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Snell, homers help Pirates end 10-game skid

Sep 3, 2008 - 5:28 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Ian Snell tossed six solid innings and Andy LaRoche homered as the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped a 10-game skid with a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday.

Rookie Brandon Moss and LaRoche hit back-to-back homers for Pittsburgh, which ended its longest losing streak since a 13-game slide in June 2006.

"It was nice to win a game," Pirates manager John Russell said. "It's been a tough road for us. These guys have stuck together all year, and they knew that all they could continue to do was go out and prepare, battle and things will turn."

"We've been really pressing these past few games to get a win," Moss said. "It's hard enough to play baseball and win a game, nonetheless when you're pressing."

Snell (6-10) was instrumental in the win. The righthander allowed two runs and seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks, and drew a key walk that led to the go-ahead run in the third.

He outdueled Aaron Harang (4-15), who allowed three runs and five hits in six innings.

"He still scattered a little bit, but he made some pitches when he had to," Russell said of Snell. "It was a good outing for him, but it was an outing that if he was a little more efficient, I think he could have gone a little longer."

Rookie Chris Dickerson belted a solo homer for the Reds.

The Pirates took a 3-2 lead in the third when Snell drew a leadoff walk, Nyjer Morgan doubled and Nate McLouth plated a run with a groundout.

Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker was upset with the walk to Snell, who entered hitting just .143.

"He's not a very good hitter, either," Baker said of Snell. "You hate to lose a game like that."

"That's something no pitcher wants to do - walk the opposing pitcher," Harang said. "I was trying to do too much and make too good a pitch, instead of just throwing it for a strike."

Sean Burnett and Denny Bautista combined to work a scoreless seventh, John Grabow tossed a hitless eighth and Matt Capps threw a perfect ninth for his first save since June 21. Capps missed a month with bursitis in his right shoulder.

Cincinnati took a 1-0 lead in the first when Dickerson blasted a leadoff homer off Snell.

Moss and LaRoche hit back-to-back homers in the second to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead, but Corey Patterson tied it with an RBI single in the bottom half of the frame.

"I threw a hanging breaking ball to LaRoche. A couple of pitches to Moss didn't go the way I hoped," Harang said.

"He threw the ball well," Baker said. "His velocity still isn't where you'd like it to be. He gave up those back-to-back homers. This year, he's given up quite a few of them. But when they're solos like that, they don't usually hurt."