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Generally, being a Pirate fan is a pretty grim existence. When they go on a run like they have in the past week (seven wins in eight games to pull within a game of .500), it's generally unexpected, pleasant, and inevitably followed by bad news. Last night, the other shoe dropped on the Pirates in their otherwise solid 8-4 win over the Cardinals: catcher Ryan Doumit broke his thumb and is going on the disabled list for a while. He's not happy, either:

"Obviously, it hurts," Doumit said. "I don't even know what to say. It couldn't have come at a worse time. I'm tired of the cliches, about how things happen or things are going to get better. I'm tired of it all. It's frustrating."

The good news is that initial X-rays point to it being a small fracture in the tip of his thumb and he might only miss two or three weeks. That won't be known for sure until his full examination is done by a hand specialist, the results of which are expected some time today. Doumit's always battled injuries, but this one comes at a particularly bad time with him mashing along at a .350/.382/.573 pace. Ronny Paulino will replace him full-time until he returns from injury and right now his OPS (.596) is only slightly higher than Doumit's slugging percentage. The Pirates' surprising start was already unlikely to last long, without Doumit, it's even less likely.