If the Pirates are in some win-one-for-the-skipper mode to save manager Jim Tracy's job, it is becoming increasingly difficult to detect.

It was one thing for starter John Van Benschoten to get chased with four runs in two innings yesterday at PNC Park. Early exits have become his norm.

---

Today

• Game: Pirates (LHP Zach Duke 3-8, 5.83) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (RHP Todd Wellemeyer 3-3, 4.79), 7:05 p.m., PNC Park.
• TV/Radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WPGB-FM (104.7)
• Key matchup: Everyone vs. St. Louis' big man. Even in what some see as a down year for Albert Pujols, he is batting .327 with 32 home runs, 101 RBIs and a .429 on-base percentage. All rank in the National League's top 15.
• Of note: In the first inning, Duke's opponents have batted .447 - 38 for 85 - with three home runs and 20 runs.

---

It was no great shame, either, that the team proceeded to lose, 8-0, to Arizona. The Diamondbacks are atop the West Division, and the Pirates had taken the first two games of the series.

What stood out was how the Pirates lost.

As any of the 11,335 who sat through a steady rain can attest, the players appeared very much out of sorts in the field, on the basepaths and at the plate in losing for the 10th time in 12th games.

A ball dropped in front of left fielder Xavier Nady and, after he slowly collected it, a runner took third base. Nyjer Morgan twice was thrown out trying for extra bases despite hearty deficits on the scoreboard. Jose Castillo and Jack Wilson each muffed grounders. And batter after batter offered little more than a passing wave in producing eight scattered hits.

Even Tracy, who seldom has a negative word, assessed the game this way: "Obviously, it was not a good day. We didn't pitch well in the early part of the game. And we didn't play well."

The cause of all of the above is open to conjecture, of course. Nady, one of the team's most respected workers, might have been slowed by his nagging hamstring. Morgan probably was guilty of nothing more than trying too hard.

But it was unmistakable, whether or not effort or focus were issues, that the timing of such a display was poor, with new general manager Neal Huntington prepared to decide -- possibly within days -- whether to bring back Tracy for the final year of his contract in 2008.

And it was equally unmistakable that the crowd did not approve, with many booing and a handful of loud fans in the upper deck chanting, "Tracy must go!"

Five Pirates players, all considered leaders in the clubhouse, were asked afterward if they want to see Tracy return. Only one declined comment.

"I would like for him to come back," first baseman Adam LaRoche said. "I like his style. I like the way he keeps an even keel, staying positive. That's been really stand-up on his end. He never snaps. He never gets moody. It's not that he doesn't care. He wants to win. He's just been put in a tough situation."

LaRoche paused.

"If there's anything we need to get under control -- and it's nothing major -- is that he's so laid-back that I think he can be taken advantage of. And that's probably more our fault than his. It's the older guys in here who need to address things, to work with the younger guys in teaching them the big-league routine."

"I love Trace, and I think it would be great to get him back," second baseman Freddy Sanchez said. "I feel badly that it seems like we, as players, are not the ones accountable. We're the ones who let down the organization and manager and coaches and, most of all, the fans. It's a shame the manager has to take full blame. But I also understand that new management usually brings in their own people."

"If management feels a change needs to be made, there's nothing I can do to stop that," reliever Salomon Torres said. "It's a troubled organization any way you look at it, and they might feel like it's finally time to do something about it. "I told one of the coaches the other day that I feel for them because they've been here for two years trying to fix something that's been broken for 15. It's not an easy task."

"I support Tracy and his staff," Nady said. "Everybody who's in here and puts on a uniform should support their manager."

The crowd's only positive reaction came for Arizona starter Micah Owings, and not for his 6 1/3 scoreless innings. He went 4 for 4 with three doubles and three RBIs and, after a two-run double to right-center in the seventh capped his day, the crowd politely applauded.

The output was no accident. Owings, a 25-year-old rookie, was a standout slugger at Georgia Tech, and his season average is .339 with four home runs.

"Micah's offense is a joke," Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Byrnes said, kiddingly. "He takes batting practice twice a week and steps up and rakes big-league pitching."

Arizona manager Bob Melvin decided shortly before game time not to use Cy Young candidate Brandon Webb because of concerns that rain could interrupt the game, so Owings was bumped ahead a day. There was an 18-minute delay in the seventh.