Not that the offense did him any favors, but Jason Jennings was just awful tonight -- awful. He gave up 9 hits and 4 walks, and practically everything that was an out was hit hard. After a five-run second, he let in another run in the third and two more in the fifth. I realize acting manager Jamie Quirk probably didn't want to hand the team back to Clint Hurdle with a bloodied bullpen, but this was ridiculous. Jennings clearly had absolutely nothing in the second, and should have been yanked while the game was still competitive.

As it was, the offense more or less rolled over after a Matt Holliday homer in the fourth. Colorado did very little against wild Oliver Perez, who walked four but struck out eight as the Rockies constantly got themselves behind in counts fouling off balls. It was ugly out there, and I'm saying that way too often these days. When some late wildness on the part of Salomon Torres gave the Rockies a chance to get back into the game, all they could muster was a sac fly, an infeld hit, and after Mike Gonzalez came in, an Aaron Miles pinch pop-out to right.

Give Blaine Neal his props for 1 2/3 hitless in relief of Jennings, Marcos Carvajal his due for a 1-2-3 eighth, and Preston Wilson and Luis Gonzalez big ups for two walks apiece, and let's put the rest behind us and salvage one game from this series tomorrow. Hey, before I go, what's up with Pirates reliever Rick White, who wears number 00? I didn't know you were allowed to wear 00 in baseball. And for a pitcher?