PITTSBURGH – Rookie Sean Burnett limited the Montreal Expos to one run in seven innings to beat them for the second straight time and Rob Mackowiak hit a two-run homer, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 2-1 victory Tuesday night.

The Pirates won their 11th in 12 home games, but still dropped the season series to the Expos for a third consecutive season – losing four of six games.

Burnett (4-2), a 2000 first-round draft pick, pitched much like he did in during a 10-hit shutout as Pittsburgh beat Montreal 11-0 on July 9 in San Juan. There were plenty of baserunners – nine in the first four innings – but Burnett repeatedly was able to pitch himself out of trouble.

Burnett, winning his fourth in a row since dropping his first two decisions, induced the Expos to hit into three double plays in the first four innings. He also got a lift when catcher Jason Kendall threw out Endy Chavez as he tried to steal second with two outs in the third.

Montreal finally got to Burnett for Brian Schneider’s RBI single in the fourth, but Burnett prevented a bigger inning by getting Jamey Carroll to bounce into an inning-ending force play with two on and two outs.

Before that, Burnett squirmed out of two-on, one-out jams in each of the first two innings with double-play grounders.

Burnett was lifted after throwing 100 pitches in seven innings in a game that lasted just 2 hours, 14 minutes. The left-hander struck out one and walked three in lowering his ERA to 2.18.

Brian Meadows and Mike Gonzalez combined for a scoreless eighth, and Jose Mesa gave up a hit and a walk in the ninth before earning his fourth save in five games and 26th in 27 opportunities.

Expos starter Livan Hernandez (6-10) was more dominating than Burnett after allowing Mackowiak’s two-run drive following Jason Kendall’s leadoff single in the first. Expos pitchers have allowed four homers in the first inning in four straight games.

Hernandez gave up only two harmless singles after that over eight innings, striking out eight, but still lost his third straight.

He bounced back from consecutive poor starts against the Braves in which he gave up 13 earned runs and 15 hits in 6 1-3 innings. Hernandez retired the last 11 batters he faced.

Notes: The Pirates are 13-4 at home since starting 9-19 there. … The crowd of 18,075 cheered loudly when told Pittsburgh had been officially awarded the 2006 All-Star game. … Hernandez is 0-4 against Atlanta and 6-6 against the rest of the NL. … Chavez singled his first three times up against Burnett but missed tying a career high for hits by grounding out in the eighth against Meadows. … Pittsburgh is 17-7 since losing 12 of 14. … The Pirates have a 22-4 edge in homers during their last 17 home games. … Mackowiak’s homer was only his third since May 29. … Pittsburgh had almost no offense against the Expos, scoring only six runs in the five games other than the 11-0 victory.

AP-ES-07-20-04 2124EDT