Bautista impresses Pirates' Tracy

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Manager Jim Tracy could exhale finally. He'd gotten his Pirates through a game where rain made keeping his players on the field too long a dicey proposition.

So Tracy wasn't disappointed Thursday one bit that the Pirates didn't bat in the ninth inning of a 6-2 loss to the Reds.

"Nobody got hurt -- bottom line," he said. "I feel bad about the fact that you have to take players out of the game in the fourth inning, but, you know, there are so many things when you get moisture like that, and you leave other people [hanging] around and [playing] and somebody ends up pulling a groin.

"That's the last thing you want to see."

As Tracy tries to shape his 25-man roster, he doesn't want to see players end up on the disabled list with Opening Day two weeks away. He says he can't afford that, not with the progress the ballclub has made this spring.

"The last thing you wanna do is lose somebody to an injury you could have prevented by simply taking 'em off the field, which is what I did," Tracy said.

He wasn't saying that he'd rather not have restarted the game after the rain delay in the fourth inning. Far from it, Tracy said. In continuing to play, he saw a couple of things that pleased him.

One thing that stood out, he said, was the play of Jose Bautista in center field. Put in to replace Chris Duffy, the 25-year-old Bautista displayed the kind of glove that drew raves from Tracy.

"He went and got a ball out there toward the wall in deep left-center field and made it look easy," Tracy said. "Effortless -- pretty intriguing to me."

Rough showing: Left-hander Paul Maholm used an appropriate word for his outing Thursday against the Reds. As he put it, the outing was "rough."

It's hard to quarrel with his critique. For in four innings, Maholm gave up six runs on six hits, including Tony Womack's two-run homer.

"I made some good pitches," he said. "Womack, I threw it where I wanted to and he hit it out. So, it's just one of those days, and I can put it in the back of my mind and just carry on toward the season."

No doubt he can, because his task isn't so much to impress Tracy as it is to get his stuff sharp for the season. Maholm (2-2, 8.50 ERA) has made the team, a situation that was so unlike what he faced last Spring Training.

As camp winds down, his plans are to work on command and get his pitch count up. He hopes to reach the 90-pitch mark before the team leaves for Pittsburgh.

He's back: Tracy put third baseman Freddy Sanchez back in the starting lineup Thursday. Sanchez had sat out the last few games with tightness in his groin.

Tracy also had plenty to say about Sanchez, who went 0-for-1.

"He's a very headies player," Tracy said of Sanchez. "He's got talent, and he knows the game. He understands the game. He understands offensive situations as a hitter. He has a terrific glove. ... a winning player."

Briefly: Ian Snell ranked sixth among pitchers in the league in innings pitched (17 1/3), and Zach Day was tied for third in strikeouts (14).