Sanchez roughed up early

PITTSBURGH -- Nate McLouth is off to the kind of start that most major league hitters can only envy. So good, it's even drawing comparisons to Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner.

McLouth, dropped a spot in Pittsburgh's order to get more opportunities to produce runs, homered twice while driving in three runs and Zach Duke won for the first time in nearly a year as the Pirates beat the Giants, 12-6, on Tuesday night.

Jonathan Sanchez (2-2) had allowed only six earned runs in 29» innings while going 2-0 in his previous five starts, but was lifted during a three-run fifth inning that made it 8-0. He gave up seven runs and six hits in 4« innings, with Brad Hennessey surrendering another five runs and seven hits in 2« innings.

"He just had trouble getting the ball where he wanted and fell behind too much and made too many mistakes," manager Bruce Bochy said of his starter. "They took advantage of a lot of his mistakes."

Sanchez wasn't happy with what he said was a too-flat PNC Park mound.

"I was trying to adjust, but I was leaving the ball up a lot the whole game. That's why I got hit," Sanchez said. "That's the worst mound I've ever pitched (on). It was flat."

The Giants have lost 11 of their past 13 against the Pirates and have dropped their sixth in nine games overall. The Giants are 0-2 in a stretch of six consecutive games against left-handed starters.

Duke (1-2) was winless in six starts this season and 12 games since June 12 before taking a shutout into the seventh inning. He lost that on Daniel Ortmeier's RBI double, and wound up being charged with three runs on eight hits over 7« innings -- his longest start since lasting eight innings in a 3-0 win over the Mets on Sept. 17, 2006.

"It's been a little while," Duke said. "Early on, the key was keeping them off the scoreboard until we got on it and after that, it was keeping the momentum in our favor."

The Pirates' offense accomplished that. Manager John Russell flip-flopped the slumping Freddy Sanchez and streaking McLouth in his order and the move paid off as the two combined to get on base seven times, score four runs and drive in five.

"I think I'll use it again tomorrow," Russell said.

The two-homer game was McLouth's second this season and the third of his career. He also homered twice on April 27, against the Phillies in the Pirates' previous home game. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, McLouth is the first Pirates player to hit multiple homers in consecutive home games since Hall of Famer Kiner on Sept. 11 and 13, 1949.

"It comes eight, nine days apart, so it's not like it was two two-homer games in a row," McLouth said, downplaying the accomplishment.