PITTSBURGH (AP) – Dave Williams limited Colorado to one hit over six innings and rookies Ryan Doumit and Brad Eldred drove in all but one of Pittsburgh’s runs as the Pirates held on to beat the Rockies 5-3 Saturday night.

The left-handed Williams (8-7) lost two of his previous three starts and was only 2-5 with a 6.91 ERA in PNC Park before sending the Rockies to their seventh loss in 10 games.

Williams failed to pitch past the sixth for the ninth consecutive start, yet still had his best outing in more than a month by permitting only Desi Relaford’s double in the fifth. Relaford scored on Danny Ardoin’s grounder.

The loss assures the Rockies, who own the majors’ worst road record at 10-39, of finishing their current 10-game trip to Cincinnati, Washington and Pittsburgh with a losing record. They had won three of five since losing three straight against the Reds and could have had their first non-losing road trip of more than four games by winning Saturday and Sunday.

The Rockies’ road record is the worst in the majors to this point in a quarter-century.

The Pirates, who had dropped nine of 11 and were 2-8 since the All-Star break, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first against Byung-Hyun Kim (2-8) on walks to Matt Lawton and Eldred, Tike Redman’s infield single and Doumit’s two-run single.

Eldred, called up from Triple-A Indianapolis before Friday’s game, added a run-scoring single for his first career RBI following Jason Bay’s RBI double in a two-run fifth inning that made it 4-1. Eldred, one of five rookies on a team that didn’t start the season with any, walked twice and scored a run.

After Salomon Torres pitched a scoreless seventh, the Rockies made it 4-3 in the eighth on Dustan Mohr’s two-run double against Rick White. Jose Mesa, who gave up Todd Helton’s two-run homer in the 10th inning Friday, got four outs for his 23rd save in 26 chances.

Mesa walked Matt Holliday, putting runners on first and second in the eighth, but struck out Garrett Atkins to prevent further damage.

To keep Mesa in the game, the Pirates were forced to send him to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth for his first career at-bat in 867 games. He struck out, but the Pirates had already added a run on reliever Randy Williams’ third walk of the inning in his first game with Colorado, to Jack Wilson with the bases loaded.

Kim allowed just four runs in 17 innings in his previous three starts before giving up seven hits and four runs in seven innings. Kim had made 16 starts since June 4, 2003, when he was with Arizona, without lasting seven.

Notes: Kim (10 starts) and Williams (18 starts) haven’t pitched into the eighth inning this season despite making a combined 28 starts. … The Pirates have won 14 of 21 against Colorado at PNC Park. … The standing room-only crowd of 37,778 was the Pirates’ largest at home since they drew 38,016 on opening day against Milwaukee. … Mesa went to the plate twice previously in his career, walking and putting down a sacrifice bunt.

AP-ES-07-23-05 2202EDT

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