Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle gave Garrett Jones a few days off this week, freeing the first baseman to explore ways to work out of a miserable funk that threatened to banish him to the bench indefinitely. A lot of time in the batting cage and a couple of helpful hints from a new teammate provided Jones with the confidence boost he desperately needed. Jones hit his 100th career home run and drove in four runs as the Pirates beat St. Louis 5-0 on Friday night to move into a tie with the Cardinals for the lead in the NL Central.
