Gene J. Puskar, Associated Press Catcher Ronny Paulino drops the ball as the Cardinals' Scott Rolen scores in the sixth inning last night at PNC Park. Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Pirates get Morris, but what about Wilson? Pirates Notebook: Chacon still 'open' to staying Bob Smizik: Littlefield reveals his desperation Pirates Q&A with Dejan Kovacevic TODAY Game: Pirates (RHP Tony Armas 0-3, 6.93) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (RHP Braden Looper 8-8, 4.85), 7:05 p.m., PNC Park. TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WPGB-FM (104.7). Key matchup: Armas vs. rust. He will be making his first start since May 17, and he will surely will try to forget he was 0-3 with an 8.46 ERA while in the rotation. Of note: St. Louis leads the National League with 45 pinch-hits and a .276 average from its pinch-hitters. The Pirates are last with 18 pinch-hits and a .154 average.

This is not Philadelphia.

It takes quite a bit to rile up a crowd at PNC Park, to one extreme or the other, even after 14-plus consecutive losing seasons.

But the 24,085 who witnessed the Pirates' 6-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals last night sent an unmistakable message to catcher Ronny Paulino after his two gaffes in the sixth inning cost his team the game:

Booooooooooooo ...

And he heard it loud and clear.

"When I play like that ... I don't even know what to say," Paulino said in English, his distant second language. "If they think they're doing good doing that, they're fine. They're paying good money to watch a good show. If that made them feel good ... there's nothing I can do about that."

He paused.

"I didn't have a great night, but tomorrow's going to be another day for me. I'm just going to try to do my best."

It remains to be seen if Paulino will get that chance, given how this one unfolded ...

The score was 2-2 after Jack Wilson delivered two-out RBI singles in the second and fourth innings, and Paul Maholm was pitching just about as well as he has for two months heading into the St. Louis sixth.

Maholm put down Albert Pujols and Juan Encarnacion quickly, before Scott Rolen singled.

He then got Ryan Ludwick to pop up behind home plate, high into the night sky but eminently playable about 10 feet removed from the mesh backstop.

Thud.

Paulino reacted slowly in moving toward it, then, once he realized how out of place he was, lunged too late to even make contact with his mitt to bring the first wave of boos.

"I didn't lose it," Paulino said. "I was just waiting for the ball to come back to me, and it never did."

Maholm backed him.

"That's probably one of the hardest balls to catch," he said. "But, you know, I had a chance to make a pitch and get out of it, and I didn't."

Anyone who has watched the sport for any portion of their lives knows what the baseball gods wrought next: Ludwick drilled a Maholm changeup off the center-field fence for a double.

Rolen raced around third as center fielder Nate McLouth's throw hit the cutoff man Wilson. Wilson's throw was on line and bounced right into Paulino.

Clank.

Right off the mitt, and St. Louis had a 3-2 lead it never relinquished.

More boos.

Paulino has been charged with six errors and six passed balls, but that does not adequately illustrate his defensive shortcomings. Not when play after play after play at the plate turns into a ball getting dropped or missed altogether. Not when he and Ryan Doumit have allowed opponents 17 consecutive steals this month.

Manager Jim Tracy, who has defended Paulino in all facets all summer, sounded strikingly different after this one.

"We didn't catch the popup, and we didn't catch the ball on the throw home," Tracy said. "We haven't caught too many of those this year. Something has to happen there. Maholm, to go out there and pitch like he did, did not deserve to be in a position to lose that game. He did not. That's all I've got to say about it."

Asked to explain Paulino's defensive regression, something he and general manager Dave Littlefield previously denied, Tracy replied simply and softly, "I don't know. ... I don't know."

The fans' final punchline came in the eighth, that on the Cardinals' third consecutive sacrifice fly off the bullpen: McLouth's throw from center was a rainbow that had no chance to get the runner, but Paulino caught it and hung on.

Mock cheers.

Asked if he heard the fans' treatment of his catcher, Tracy answered, "Yeah."

The loss was the collapsing Pirates' 14th in 16 games since the All-Star break.

Another downer on the night: Outfielder Xavier Nady exited in the fourth inning after his left hamstring, the one that has nagged him all season, was strained while running the bases. He will miss the game tonight and probably the next one.

Nady described this incident as being "similar" to one that cost him only two games in early June.

As Tracy indicated, Maholm fared reasonably well, given that he had little stuff and less command.

"Fighting it all night," Maholm said.

He lasted six innings and was charged with two earned runs, dropping to a tough 7-13 after yet another night of little support.

The only other bright spot: Doumit snapped an 0-for-20 skid with an eighth-inning home run off Ryan Franklin, his eighth.