PITTSBURGH— Below .500 and out of the division race, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in familiar territory at the all-star break.

It's how they got there that's interesting.

Freddy Sanchez, the 2006 National League batting champion, is hitting .224. Shortstop Jack Wilson missed a month and a half with a calf injury and Adam LaRoche was hitting around .200 on June 1.

Despite all that, the Pirates rank near the top of the National League in run production. In 10 of the team's 44 victories, it trailed after six innings.

"It's been fun watching these guys play, how they keep battling and never give up,"general manager Neal Huntington said.

"We've got the most productive outfield in the major leagues. "Our pitching just hasn't been there and we don't have the depth right now to fix it."

The team earned run average of 5.15 ranks last in the National League. The club's two "ace" pitchers going into the season, Tom Gorzelanny and Ian Snell, are at Class AAAIndianapolis or saddled with a 3-7 record.

Closer Matt Capps is on the disabled list and will stay there for another month. Other relief pitchers are already dealing with tired arms.

"We've been limping toward this day for 10 days now,"manager John Russell said. "Our bullpen has been extremely overworked. Guys have been giving what they have, but there's not much left in the tank."

Russell said his outfield "has been phenomenal and the offense has been there all year."

Left fielder Jason Bay is hitting .289 with 19 home runs, center fielder Nate McLouth is .284 with 19 homers and a league-leading 33 doubles, right fielder Xavier Nady hit .321 with 12 homers.

McLouth leads the league with 55 extra-base hits and leads all major league center fielders with 63 RBI. Nady tops the circuit with 10 outfield assists. Bay has drawn 56 walks, sixth-most in the NL.

"All three of those guys are having all-star caliber years,"Huntington said. "And who would have guessed Ryan Doumit (.320, 11 HRs) would quickly become one of the best hitting catchers in baseball?

"There's been a lot of positives, but we don't want to go out and try to win 81 games. Our goal is to play meaningful games in September."

Achieving that goal might mean losing a little ground this year to gain a lot of ground in coming years.

"We may be making some moves in the near future that will be unpopular with the fans,"Huntington admitted. "But we don't have much depth in the organization right now and that needs to change.

"Any trades we make will be baseball-driven. This organization is in the best financial shape it's been in for years. We don't have to get rid of anybody, but we do want to acquire talented players and build depth."

The Pirates' retooled bench has already paid dividends. Jason Michaels has hit a pair of game-winning home runs since being acquired from Cleveland, free agent signee Chris Gomez is batting .338 in 20 starts and is .307 overall, Luis Rivas has been a versatile backup infielder and journeyman backup catcher Raul Chavez's play has extended Ronny Paulino's stay in Indianapolis.

"Jason Michaels has been the ideal fourth outfielder,"Huntington said. "He can play all three positions out there and his bat has some pop."

Other than Paul Maholm (6-5, 3.93 ERA), Huntington admitted the starting pitching has been a disappointment.

"We just don't have a lot of options there," he said of making it better.

He said Gorzelanny will remain at Class AAA for at least two more starts for evaluation purposes.

The Pirates' first 14 games after the break are against Colorado, Houston and San Diego, three teams well below the .500 mark.

"I don't like where our record's at, obviously,"Russell said. "But I like where we're going. If we can get some pitching, we can have a lot of fun in the second half."