Peter Diana, Post-Gazette photos Pirates outfielder Jason Bay slides past the tag of Rockies catcher Danny Ardoin in last night's action at PNC Park. Click photo for larger image. More Pirates Coverage: Pirates Notebook: Indianapolis Five used to winning Paul Meyer's Baseball Notebook: Here's the pitch Finder: Bautista has bright future with Pirates Penguins announcer finds a new game to call Today's game Game: Rockies at Pirates, 1:35 p.m. Pitching: Mark Redman (4-10, 4.24 ERA) vs. Shawn Chacon (1-6, 4.11 ERA). TV/Radio: FSN Pittsburgh/KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network.

John Grabow might be able to stroll down Federal Street without being recognized.

An hour before game time.

In full uniform.

But his teammates and management with the Pirates fully appreciate his worth even when all he does is face one batter, as was the case in the 5-3 edging of the Colorado Rockies last night before an overflow crowd of 37,778 at PNC Park.

"John's been a model of consistency," bullpen coach Bruce Tanner said. "With the situations he's been in and how he's performed ... what more can you say?"

A setup man's primary job is to clean up messes late in the game, and it could be argued that no one in Major League Baseball has done it better than Grabow. In 34 outings, he has inherited 19 runners and allowed only one to score, a 94.7 percent success rate that is best in the game.

"I like the challenge," Grabow said. "I enjoy being out there in those situations. It's what you dream of, as a little kid."

The situation he encountered in the eighth was not one most would savor.

Colorado had just trimmed the Pirates' lead to 4-3 on Dustan Mohr's two-run double off reliever Rick White, and the Rockies' most feared hitter, Todd Helton, was stepping into the box.

The guy whose 10th-inning home run had beaten them the previous night.

The guy whose .381 career average against the Pirates was second best of any active player.

The guy hitting .413 in July.

Grabow struck him out on six pitches, getting him to flail at an untouchable 88-mph slider to finish it off for the second out of the inning.

"That was the game, in my opinion," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. "John made some quality pitches."

McClendon had instructed Grabow to stay low.

"Mac told me to keep the ball down, make my pitch and attack him," Grabow said. "That's what I tried to do."

Grabow stayed low for the first four pitches, but the penultimate pitch of the at-bat was a 94-mph fastball that sailed high enough to cause catcher Ryan Doumit to leap out of his stance. Grabow had simply missed his spot but, as he acknowledged, it might have thrown Helton out of rhythm.

"You can get the level of a batter's eyes raised with a pitch like that," he said. "Maybe he wasn't ready for something low."

The slider took a sharp turn down and away.

Colorado manager Clint Hurdle was impressed.

"That's a tough pitch," he said. "Have you seen what Grabow's numbers are? He's rolling."

Grabow, 26, is coming into his own in his second season in the majors. He lowered his earned run average to 3.14 and boosted his strikeout total to 20 in 282/3 innings.

Pirates right fielder Matt Lawton makes a running grab on ball hit by the Rockies' Dustan Mohr in the first inning. Click photo for larger image.

"He's quietly putting together a very nice year," McClendon said. "He's had great poise, and what he did tonight is a perfect example of that."

After Helton fanned, McClendon brought in closer Jose Mesa to get the final out of the eighth, which he did after a walk.

The Pirates added an insurance run in the bottom half on Jack Wilson's bases-loaded walk, and Mesa wrapped up his 23rd save in the ninth in typically wobbly fashion, allowing a single and a hit batsman before retiring Luis Gonzalez on a drive to deep center.

With that, the team won for the second time in three nights and improved to 3-8 since the All-Star break.

Dave Williams had an unusual start in raising his record to a staff-best 8-7. He gave up one run and one hit but also walked three, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. Just 44 of his 83 pitches were strikes.

McClendon said Williams "really didn't have much," and Williams readily agreed.

"But you know what?" Williams said. "It's easy to pitch with your best stuff. It shows your competitiveness if you stick with it."

The Pirates benefited, too, from some atypically clutch hitting.

In the first inning, Doumit lashed a bases-loaded, two-run single up the middle on a full count off Colorado submariner Byung-Hyun Kim. In the fifth, Jason Bay pounded a run-scoring double to the wall in center, also off a 3-2 pitch. Brad Eldred drove in Bay with a liner to center for his first major-league RBI to make the score 4-1.

In all, the team went 4 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

The Pirates leapfrogged the Cincinnati Reds out of last place in the National League Central Division, where they had spent one day.

"You certainly don't want to be looking up at everybody else," McClendon said. "But we've got more concerns than that. We've got a lot of young players that we need to make better."

Some of those, including Grabow, are showing signs of such improvement almost daily.

"It's nice to have your young players perform well," McClendon said. "Anytime you can have that, it's certainly a reason to be excited about your future."