As in, this is really the guy the team wants in a close game?

Chavez might well have had a moment when he was taken aback, but, if so, he suppressed it.

"The way I'm approaching this season, every time I go out there is my last game in the majors," he said Wednesday, shortly after that game. "So, to me, the score doesn't really matter. I have to get it done."

Which he did. But first the Pirates scored twice in the sixth inning immediately after Maholm finished his outing, on their way to a 7-4 victory against the Florida Marlins, so Chavez entered the seventh with a two-run lead. He protected it by retiring both batters he faced.

It was, perhaps, the most powerful sign in this early going that the Pirates' three seriously iffy middle relievers -- Chavez, Craig Hansen and Donnie Veal -- might turn out to offer something more than hold-your-breath drama.

"I think it's coming with all three," manager John Russell said. "At this point, we're looking for one of them -- hopefully, all of them someday -- to kind of step into that role Damaso Marte had last year, where they can help us get to our late-inning guys."

The simple fact that three of seven relievers fall into this category, though, would strongly suggest Russell and the Pirates have been quite lucky to have gotten 10 quality starts through 15 games.

"I don't know if it's luck, but it helps us break those guys in the way we want to, as opposed to forcing them into situations we don't know they can handle yet," Russell said.

Chavez, 25, has been the best of the three so far, with a 1.35 ERA, 3 hits, 3 strikeouts and 3 walks through 62/3 innings. And that probably comes as a great surprise after a calamitous spring in which he had an 11.45 ERA and finished with an erratic performance against Cincinnati in which every other pitch was finding the dirt.

"Yeah, that wasn't me," Chavez said with a laugh. "Me and Joe just went back to basics, pitching more out of the windup, keeping the hands higher like I used to have it, and that's really helped my fastball command."

Chavez made the roster only because Evan Meek, who had a far better spring, had fallen ill, but it does not sound as if Chavez is heading to Class AAA Indianapolis anytime soon.

"Chavez has a great arm and a nasty changeup," Kerrigan said. "He needs more consistency with the slider, but he's doing fine."

Hansen, 25, has a 5.68 ERA, 6 hits, 5 strikeouts and 4 walks in 61/3 innings, but no more than two hits or walks in any outing. Given the power arm the Pirates knew they were getting in the Jason Bay trade, control has been the paramount issue.

"Hansen, for the most part, has thrown strikes," Kerrigan said. "We're very happy with that."

"I feel like I'm getting a little better every time out," Hansen said.

He underwent an overhaul of his delivery this offseason, with the help of Scott Brown, his former coach at St. John's University.

Veal, the 24-year-old Rule 5 draft pick, had a similar overhaul -- his under Kerrigan's watch -- and has mostly continued what he showed in the spring: When he throws strikes, his stuff is devastating -- from the 97-mph fastball to the crazy curve that froze Chris Duncan with bases loaded in St. Louis. But Veal clearly is being protected, limited to two blowout appearances with a 6.00 ERA, two hits, three strikeouts and a gaudy seven walks.

His most recent outing Sunday was typical of how he likely will be used for the foreseeable future, coming in the final two innings of the 11-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

"I told Donnie when he comes into games like that is to not let anybody warm up behind him, keep the other guys fresh," Kerrigan said. "It's not fair, but that's how he has to look at it."

"I understand that," Veal said. "I haven't thrown much, but we've all been putting the work in every single day. You've seen that Chavez and Hansen have done the job, and I'm ready when my number is called. So far, so good."

To compensate for the lack of activity, all three have been reporting to the ballpark early every other day for special bullpen sessions of 25-30 pitches.

Perhaps as a result, they have banded together a bit.

"There are a lot of doubts about us, but we don't worry about that," Hansen said. "We really don't care what reporters or anyone has to say about it. You know what? We're going to go out there and do our jobs. And, when we do, there aren't going to be any high-fives."

Today

?Game: Pirates (Snell 1-2) vs. Padres (Correia 0-1), 10:05 p.m.

?Where: Petco Park, San Diego.

?TV: FSN Pittsburgh