By Alan Robinson
The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - Few major leaguers ever drive in eight runs in a game. Jason Bay already has done it twice - and he's a rookie.

The 25-year-old outfielder is giving the Pittsburgh Pirates a dash of hope as the team tries to avoid its 12th consecutive losing season.

Bay, making a push to become the first Pirates player to win the NL rookie of year, had nine RBI as Pittsburgh swept a doubleheader from the Brewers on Friday. He had a sacrifice fly in an 8-1 opening victory, then hit three two-run doubles and a two-run homer in a 13-2 decision in the second game.

Coincidentally, it was also during a Friday doubleheader Sept. 19 that Bay had his first eight-RBI game, barely a month after he joined the Pirates following the trade that sent star outfielder Brian Giles to San Diego.

"I thought I had kind of set the bar high last year," Bay said. "I thought that would be safe for a while."

So did manager Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon, who called Bay's repeat performance "pretty impressive."

Bay is coming on with a rush after missing more than a month at the start of the season following shoulder surgery. Going into Saturday's game, he was hitting .299 with 10 homers and 34 RBI in only 134 at-bats. He was leading NL rookies in homers, slugging percentage (.619) and on-base percentage (.364), and was NL rookie of the month in June.

"I think Jason can be a good No. 5 hitter, a line drive hitter who can hit 20-25 home runs, drive in 85 runs," McClendon said.

Bay admittedly took a while to get going after the shoulder injury. His average was in the .250s following a four-strikeout game June 15 against Anaheim.

That night, he sat dejectedly in front of his locker for nearly a half-hour, his cap pulled down to cover his face and hide the frustration.

"It was a tough night," Bay said. "But I'm learning it's not a big deal, you come back the next day and it's a new day."

After some encouragement from first baseman Randall Simon and a long talk with McClendon, Bay got going. Friday night's outburst gave him a .367 average with seven homers and 22 RBIs in his last 15 games.