Julian

Tavarez

Jason Isringhausen got the day off. The Cards are burning through Tavarez before he gets his lengthy rest.

With a plastic mold covering the hand and some alterations made to his glove, Tavarez could have been good for an inning last night. However, he wasn’t used.

West said Tavarez “admitted it was foreign. He admitted it was a substance like pine tar. So did Tony [La Russa]. Tony said that was good, hard baseball and you’re going to get resin and pine tar on your equipment during the course of the year. I said, ‘Hey, Tony, you can’t have pine tar on your person.’” The umpires were tipped off by Pirate manager Lloyd McClendon, who managed Tavarez last year, about possible illegal activity. “He played for me, and I know what he does,” McClendon told home plate umpire Ron Kulpa. Tavarez could be facing a brief suspension.

Tavarez is day-to-day.

The team will consider offering him arbitration if he rejects the offer. It doesn’t appear that the Pirates have much interest in bringing back any of their other free agents, a group which includes Matt Stairs, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Reboulet and Pokey Reese.

In the team’s pursuit of another setup man for Francisco Cordero, Texas is also looking at Braden Looper.

Tavarez was made an offer this weekend, but it didn’t get a deal done. The Pirates will be on the lookout for both a closer and a primary setup man this winter. Going after Armando Benitez would be a very good idea.

Tavarez hit his head in the dugout Saturday and is day-to-day.

''It’s ridiculous,’' Tavarez said. ''They checked my hat last year, too, and never found anything. They’re just trying to get inside my head. But I won’t let them.’' Just to demonstrate that no one was getting inside his head, Tavarez decided to ramble on for another hour or two and provide a quote of the year possibility. ''Some people like skinny women. I like fat women. Some people like young women. I like older women. Some people like poor women. I like rich women,’' Tavarez said. ''Some people like clean hats. I like my dirty hat.’'

With left-handed hitters Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau due up, Tavarez was probably the worst choice remaining in the Boston pen to start the 12th inning tonight. Manager Terry Francona played it right until then. Unfortunately, he didn’t feel he could put Mike Timlin, who was in his first game back from the DL, out for a second inning following a perfect 11th. Jonathan Papelbon pitched scoreless ninth and 10th innings after taking over for Curt Schilling.