Peter Diana, Post-Gazette photos Roberto Hernandez celebrates the final out last night of the Pirates' 3-2 win. Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Pirates Notebook: Is Torres destined to start again? Paul Meyer's Baseball Notebook: Settling for 2nd? Collier: Pirates' starters offer trace of hope Game Statistics Provided by Forecaster Pirates vs. Phillies box score Game play-by-play ON DECK: Sunday vs. Phillies, 1:35 Oliver Perez (1-3) vs. Gavin Floyd (1-2) FSN/KDKA-AM (1020) Monday at Cubs, 8:05 Victor Santos (1-4) vs. Sean Marshall (2-0) FSN/KDKA-AM (1020) Tuesday at Cubs, 2:20 Zach Duke (1-2) vs. Angel Guzman (0-0) WGN/KDKA-AM (1020)

One of these days, Mike Gonzalez is going to blow a save.

It will come after the Pirates' starter takes his team deep into the game, after the rest of his teammates give it all they have, after the home crowd is on its feet anticipating fireworks.

And it will hurt.

But manager Jim Tracy made sure it was not going to happen last night, pulling his fledgling closer with one out in the ninth and summoning Roberto Hernandez to narrowly finish off the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2, before 33,944 at PNC Park.

"We did what we had to do," Tracy explained. "When you're seeing that from the dugout, when you see a situation you're uncomfortable with, it's time to make a move."

That time came quickly.

Paul Maholm pitched seven strong innings, Jeromy Burnitz hit a two-run home run, and the defense was exemplary as the Pirates turned over the one-run lead in the ninth to Gonzalez.

Philadelphia's first hitter, Pat Burrell, walked on five pitches.

Tracy immediately phoned the bullpen for Hernandez to warm up.

"He wasn't just missing," Tracy said of Gonzalez. "He was missing badly."

Gonzalez fanned Ryan Howard swinging, but he walked David Bell, two of those balls in the dirt.

That ended his night.

Hernandez came in with heat, hitting 99 mph on one pitch, but was no more accurate. He walked pinch-hitter David Dellucci to load the bases.

With a reliever due up, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was forced to send up the last non-catcher on his bench, Alex Gonzalez, to pinch-hit despite an .073 average and an 0-for-9 history against Hernandez.

Hernandez fell behind again, 3-1, including a pitch in the dirt that catcher Ronny Paulino blocked to save a run.

The next offering, a 93-mph fastball, likely would have been a ball, too, down and in. But Gonzalez swung and chopped it to third baseman Joe Randa, who stepped on his bag and fired across the diamond for a game-ending double play.

"For us to lose that game right there after the way Maholm threw would have been ... demoralizing," Hernandez said.

As it was, it gave the Pirates only their second set of back-to-back victories -- the other came April 9-10 against the Los Angeles Dodgers -- and lifted their record to 7-18.

It also provided the first telling glimpse at how Tracy might use Hernandez as a parachute for Mike Gonzalez, who had been 3 for 3 in save opportunities.

"In the same situation tomorrow for a save, he's going out there," Tracy said of Gonzalez. "But we also realize he's not a completely finished entity just yet. When you have a veteran behind him like we have ... well, that's why we brought Roberto Hernandez onto this team."

Neither Gonzalez nor Hernandez seemed taken aback by the decision.

"You want to stay in the game, of course, but I don't second-guess any of Tracy's moves," Gonzalez said. "I believe in him as a manager."

"I was just hoping that, if they stuck with him, that he'll get through it so he'll have something to rely on down the road," Hernandez said. "There's going to come a time and place where he's going to have to learn by pitching through it."

Maholm notched his first victory after three losses with a commanding performance in which he pinpointed his fastball early in counts, kept hitters off-balance with breaking stuff after that and recorded 13 ground-ball outs. Philadelphia managed one run and six hits off him.

"I just threw my game, finally," he said.

Burnitz's home run, his fifth, put the Pirates ahead, 3-1, in the fourth inning. After Jason Bay's one-out double, Burnitz drove Phillies starter Cory Lidle's first-pitch slider into the center-field seats.

In the previous seven games, Burnitz was 2 for 25.

"You stay with veteran guys," Tracy said. "You don't look at 60-70 at-bats and say they can't hit."

The defense shined, too, turning three double plays. That included a gem to end the seventh when shortstop Jack Wilson made so little contact with the ball in two-handing an Abraham Nunez grounder toward second baseman Jose Castillo that it resembled a volleyball dig.

In the end, maybe most important, the Pirates found an ingredient they had been sorely missing.

"With the way these kids have continued to stay after it, continued to play hard, you like to see the break go your way," Tracy said. "We haven't had too many of those."