Jim Tracy changed the top of the Pirates lineup yesterday, and it worked:

In the first six games of this trip, the players who started in the top three lineup spots -- primarily Duffy, Wilson and Sanchez -- were a combined 14 for 82 with three walks. They scored five runs, one of those on Duffy's home run Sunday in Milwaukee.

Yesterday, Sanchez, Bautista and Jason Bay reached base a combined six times and scored four runs.

To his credit, Tracy doesn't see the lineup shift as something long term, although Freddy Sanchez belongs up there.

"It's not the lineup you want to stick with. There are flaws to this one, too. There isn't any base-stealing speed up at the top. Is it perfect? No. But it's something else to try.

"We're just trying to get something going at the top of our lineup [and] see if we can't get something going offensively. It's the one thing right now that is holding our ballclub up."

If it scores runs, however, steals at the top aren't all that necessary. And given the overall stats of the team, there really isn't a good lineup available.