To borrow from one of the great questions of life:

If the Pirates win on the road and no one sees it with their own eyes, did it really happen?

Surely, the team that played at PNC Park last night wasn't the same team that blew through Houston, Phoenix and San Francisco.

The 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers left the Pirates with a 3-10 home record. Only the woeful Kansas City Royals have been worse in their park.

It's hard to explain. The Pirates are 12-9 on the road. That's better than competitive. That's outstanding. Only the St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins in the National League have won more consistently away.

This home losing also is getting old fast.

"You think you're tired of it?" Lloyd McClendon asked, rhetorically.

This loss goes on starter Kip Wells. It might have been a different outcome if he hadn't hit Chad Moeller -- a .108 batter -- to load the bases in the fourth inning. Or if he hadn't allowed a sacrifice fly to the next hitter -- pitcher Chris Capuano -- after not being able to put him away with an 0-2 pitch. Or if he hadn't given up a tying, two-out single to Moeller on a 1-2 pitch in the sixth, just Moeller's third RBI of the season.

The loss also fell on the hitters, who looked like the '27 Yankees on the team's 7-3 trip that concluded in San Francisco Wednesday. Aside from a two-run home run by Jason Bay in the third inning, there wasn't much offense. Capuano, who went a career-high eight innings, looked way too much like Sandy Koufax for much of the night.

Most of all, the loss was the continuation of several depressing trends.

Wells doesn't pitch well at PNC Park. He won here on opening day against the Philadelphia Phillies last season and beat the Houston Astros April 27. That's it as far as wins go in his past 14 home starts.

But it's not just Wells. None of the starters has pitched lights out at PNC Park this season. Their home earned-run average is 5.24, more than a run greater than their road ERA of 4.16.

For that matter, the bullpen hasn't been so hot at PNC Park, either. Jose Mesa, who's a perfect 12 for 12 in save situations, started the ninth inning of a 3-3 game last night and promptly gave up the winning run, the big hit a two-out double by Geoff Jenkins. That raised the bullpen's home ERA to 4.76. It's 3.88 on the road.

Then, there's the offense. I know what you're thinking: What offense? The Pirates barely topped their season's average of 2.85 runs at PNC Park by getting the three last night. That's the worst run production at home in baseball, no surprise when you consider the hitters are batting .221 here. They're averaging 4.43 runs on the road and hitting .260.

McClendon said a lot of the futility was understandable early in the season. A young team, struggling to impress the home fans and get off to a fast start, fails and starts to press. The results go from bad to worse.

"Then," McClendon said, "they hear the boos, and their [stomachs] get tight."

The next thing you know, the team is 3-10 at home.

But it's not like this is a recent issue. Since PNC Park opened in 2001, the Pirates haven't played winning baseball at home. McClendon was quick to point out that they finished strong at home last season, going 31-21 after starting 8-20. But by then, it was too late. The team was buried in the standings and the attention of the sporting set had turned to Latrobe and the start of Steelers training camp.

"I'm confident this team is ready to start to play up to its capabilities here," McClendon insisted. "I know this -- I came back home [from San Francisco] with a lot better team than I left here with at the start of that trip. A lot of that has to do with confidence.

"We're ready to start winning some games here."

Tonight wouldn't be soon enough.