BALTIMORE -- Struggling Adam LaRoche was not in the Pirates' starting lineup again last night.

One reason was that left-hander Brian Burres started for Baltimore.

"And I wanted to give him another day to work on a few things," manager John Russell said.

One thing on LaRoche's agenda yesterday was to meet with Russell. That session lasted about 30 minutes. LaRoche, in a 7-for-51 slide over a 14-game span, politely declined to discuss what was said.

"I think the biggest thing with Adam is, he just needs to relax and let his ability take over and start seeing the ball better," Russell said. "He's trying to do so much that he's not seeing the ball well. Once he does that, he'll be fine. He wants to come up with that big hit, and it's grinding on him that he's not."

Reliever Marino Salas, sent to Class AAA Indianapolis May 29 when Bryan Bullington was brought up, rejoined the Pirates yesterday.

"I was pleased with how [Salas] helped us when he was here," Russell said. "He cleaned up some innings for us. He kept us in some games when we were behind."

At Indianapolis, the right-hander worked on improving his breaking ball and changeup.

"But the biggest thing was [improving] his command," Russell said.

Bullington didn't pitch in his two weeks with the Pirates. One reason he didn't was because the Pirates played a lot of close games, thanks to their starting pitching taking them deeper into games.

"It was good for us as a whole, but it didn't help Bullington very much." Russell said.

"It was unfortunate for him."

The Elias Sports Bureau said Ryan Doumit's 9-hit, 4-home run, 7-RBI spree in three games against Washington marked the first time a catcher reached those levels in those three categories in a three-game span since Mike Piazza of the Los Angeles Dodgers had 9 hits, 5 home runs and 11 RBIs in three games June 29-July 1, 1996.

Doumit's offensive surge further cemented his status as the Pirates' regular catcher. That means Raul Chavez is the official backup.

"I think he does a very nice job behind the plate," Russell said.

"He brings a lot of energy. He works awfully hard with the pitchers. He's a great part of our team.

"[Chavez and Doumit] will work together with the staff. They'll be able to feed off each other's information helping to keep our pitchers on track. I think it's a great situation. He came up and really took advantage of an opportunity and ran with it. I feel he's been a nice addition for us right now."

• Before the game last night, the Orioles honored participants in the 1979 World Series which matched Baltimore and the Pirates. Former manager Earl Weaver and players Scott McGregor and Doug DeCinces were among those on the field, as was former Pirates reliever Grant Jackson.