PITTSBURGH (AP) – Freddy Sanchez’s RBI double in the eighth inning gave Pittsburgh the lead and the Pirates went on to a 3-1 victory over Colorado on Monday night, the Rockies’ eighth straight loss.

Sanchez and Jack Wilson, who scored on the double, both had two hits for the Pirates, who have won three of four since the All-Star break.

Wilson doubled into the left field corner with one out in the eighth off Byung-Hyun Kim (5-6), and Sanchez, the league’s leading hitter at .363, followed with a double into the right field corner.

The next three batters reached against relievers Ramon Ramirez and Ray King, with Sanchez scoring courtesy on a walk to Jose Bautista.

Rookie Matt Capps worked the ninth for his first career save.

The go-ahead runs were scored a half-inning after the Rockies appeared to be on the verge of breaking the 1-1 tie.

Garrett Atkins hit a double to the gap in right-center – his third hit of the game – off John Grabow (2-1) with Todd Helton on first. But center fielder Batista made a strong relay throw to second baseman Jose Castillo, who quickly got the ball home to Ronny Paulino, who blocked enough of the plate to barely tag out Helton in time.

Helton was the only the second runner on either team to get as far as third base after the third inning, as Kim and Pittsburgh starter Kip Wells combined for six 1-2-3 innings.

Nate McLouth scored the game’s first run when he doubled to lead off the bottom of the first, advanced to third on Wilson’s groundout and scored on a passed ball by J.D. Closser.

Clint Barmes tied it with one out in the third with a homer into the left field corner, his sixth. It was Barmes’ third home run in his last six games after going 98 at-bats without one.

Wells, who missed almost three months at the start of the season after surgery in March to repair a blocked artery in his right arm, had allowed 23 earned runs in 16 2-3 innings in four starts this season – all losses.

He enjoyed easily his best start of the season, allowing one run and seven hits in seven innings, walking two and striking out four.

Kim worked a career-high 7 1-3 innings and tied a career high with nine strikeouts, a feat he had accomplished twice before.

Notes: The Pirates had managed at least 10 hits in each of their previous eight home games. … Pittsburgh is 16-7 all-time against Colorado at PNC Park – the best winning percentage (.696) against any team that has played there more than six times. … Sanchez has hit safely in 26 of his last 29 starts. … Kim had pitched seven innings in a game 11 times in his career.

AP-ES-07-17-06 2159EDT