DENVER -- Leave it to the Pirates to find a low point a mile above sea level.

Their 5-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies tonight at Coors Field, the second big blah following the All-Star break, dropped their record to 44-52, a season-low eight games under the .500 mark they only recently were dismissing as beneath them.

Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe homered off Ian Snell, and Seth Smith hit one inside the park off Tyler Yates.

Snell, owner of one victory since April 12, fell to 3-8 with his ERA falling slightly to 5.83. He struck out five, walked three and might have stayed another inning or so if not lifted for a pinch-hitter.

Encouraging?

Hard to say.

What is needed for Snell to put it all together?

"To be successful, he has to locate," Russell said beforehand. "His biggest asset is command of his fastball. Once he has that, he cane make his other pitches work off it. From there, he needs to translate that into more efficient innings, with 20 pitches or less."

When Snell is on, he is a strikeout pitcher, and those types do not lend themselves to efficiency.

"I caught Nolan Ryan, and he could be efficient in his own way," Russell said. "You can get your strikeouts and still get 110-120 pitches into the seventh inning or so. And, in Ian's case, he has the arm where he can do it without giving up anything. He has the ability to go deep in the game."

That ability again was called into question right off the bat ??? literally. Willy Taveras hammered his first pitch off the fence in right field for a leadoff triple.

One out later, Holliday got all of a 1-2 fastball -- down but over the heart of the plate -- and sent it beyond left-center for a two-run home run.

Colorado was handed a gift run in the second: Taveras walked with two outs, then was erroneously called safe on a steal of second by umpire Dan Iassogna. Replays clearly showed Freddy Sanchez tagged before the foot reached the bag, and even Taveras was laughing as he dusted himself off. He tried to steal third, too, and scored when Ryan Doumit lost his grip on the throw and flung it into left field.

Jose Bautista got that one back in the third, lining a Glendon Rusch fastball inside the left foul pole for his 11th home run. The RBI was Bautista's second in the past nine games.

The Pirates closed within 3-2 in the sixth. Freddy Sanchez and Doumit singled, and Jason Bay hit a sacrifice fly. But men were left at the corners when Jason Michaels struck out looking at a Jason Grilli slider.

That proved particularly painful moments later, when Hawpe led off the Rockies' seventh with a home run, this off a 2-1 changeup that stayed too far up.

Snell's outings had its pluses: After a wobbly first inning in which he threw 24 pitches and gave up three hits and a walk, he threw only 71 pitches over the next five and limited Colorado to three hits.

But even that is not easy to praise when it is considered that the Rockies' injury-depleted lineup included an immensely non-threatening 7-9 hitters who went a combined 0 for 8 vs. Snell. The top six went 5 for 15 with three walks.

Rusch, Colorado's starter, entered with a 6.25 ERA, but the Pirates mustered just two runs and six hits in his 5²/₃ innings.

Tyler Yates replaced Snell for the seventh, and was greeted by the first inside-the-park home run the Pirates allowed since Sammy Sosa's Oct. 6, 2001. Smith's drive to deep center caromed violently off the sharp-angled fence, with enough force to make Nate McLouth reverse course and chase it all the way into left field. Smith touched home plate standing up.

McLouth made a fine running, diving catch in the eighth to rob Garrett Atkins of extra bases.

Colorado's Brian Fuentes recorded his 16th save, second in as many nights, with a scoreless ninth.

If the Pirates are to finally win a game in this series against a team well below them in the overall standings, it will have to be with Yoslan Herrera -- recently promoted from Class AA -- taking on Jorge De La Rosa and his 7.26 ERA tonight.