Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Jason Bay watches his 4th inning home run against the Astros last night at PNC Park. Click photo for larger image. Today Game: Pirates (Paul Maholm 2-4) vs. Astros (Wandy Rodriguez 6-2), 7:05 p.m. Where: PNC Park TV/Radio: FSN Pittsburgh/KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network. Related articles Pirates Notebook: Tracy blames bad start on players Cook: Bay's turnaround means Pirates will have worthy All-Star Game Statistics Provided by Forecaster Pirates vs. Astros box score Game play-by-play

Jason Bay joined Barry Bonds' company last night.

No, it was none of that Ruthian business in the 700 club.

On the 50th anniversary week of former Pirates first baseman Dale Long's record eight-game streak of home runs, Bay bashed a homer in his fourth consecutive contest. The last Pirates player to perform that feat? Why, Bonds himself between Aug. 18-21, 1987.

"I know him," Bay quipped.

Such a mini-moment in club homer history couldn't have come at a better time for these Pirates, who returned home after four consecutive losses and six in their past seven games. Back in the snug confines of PNC Park, the Pirates celebrated fireworks night with an in-game display in which Bay's two-out, three-run clout -- his eighth homer in eight games -- keyed an offensively glittering, 12-5 victory against the Houston Astros before 29,247.

Bay's 409-foot home run came with two out in a seven-run fourth inning made all the more gleaming by a two-run Jose Castillo homer, a bases-loaded, run-scoring fielder's choice by Freddy Sanchez and two hits in one inning by the maligned Jeromy Burnitz.

"I got back to the dugout, and it was like, 'Wow,' " Bay tried to explain of his recent power-hitting surge (nine homers, 28 RBIs and a .382 average in his past 17 games of which he has hit safely in 15). "I'm just going to keep riding it as long as it'll go."

"I don't know that there's a hotter hitter in the league," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said afterward. "I think you're beginning to see a guy reaching for a level beyond what you've seen the past couple of years. Some people are going to have to pay for some frustrations he was put through early in the season."

Against the Astros who have lost four games in a row -- by a whopping 17 runs -- and eight of their past 11, Bay was not alone. In fact, he was joined by a parade of Pirates hitters who mustered a season high point among all those lows:

Most runs in an inning -- the seven-run fourth, in which Pirates went to the plate 11 times, eclipsed a six-run inning May 18 against Cincinnati.

Tied for the most home runs in an inning -- the three in the fourth, by Castillo, Bay and Craig Wilson, tied the Pirates' sixth inning April 14 against Chicago, when Nate McLouth, Bay and Wilson did the honors.

Tied for most runs in a game -- you know, these Pirates ought to score 12 more often (they're 3-0 now, after battering Florida May 12 and St. Louis April 18 with a dozen).

Most hits in a game -- 16.

And then there was this little nugget: The Pirates drove in three runs in two at-bats with the bases loaded, Sanchez chipping in one in that fourth and Ronny Paulino the other two in the sixth, giving him a career-high three RBIs.

"We played a very, very good ballgame," Tracy said. "Obviously, we did a lot offensively."

"The game wasn't over," Bay added after that frenetic fourth, "but we were relaxed that the game didn't hinge on every pitch."

Ian Snell (4-3) struck out seven, gave up five earned runs and nibbled his way into the sixth inning to nab his second consecutive victory and third in his past four starts. Jack Wilson and Castillo made some dandy plays to back him, and the Pirates -- after a 1 for 5 start at the plate was followed by a jump-starting Burnitz steal of second base (his first of the season) -- rapped 15 hits in their next 27 at-bats.

Burnitz, after that surprising steal, tied the score, 1-1, in the second by scoring on Paulino's two-out double off the center-field wall, something Tracy called one of the "game-changing" hits.

In the third, Snell and the Pirates unraveled. Willy Taveras opened the inning with a single, stole second and moved to third when Castillo couldn't snag Paulino's throw, which skittered into center. He scored on a wild pitch. Chris Burke's walk was followed by Morgan Ensberg's 17th home run of the season, giving the Astros a 4-1 advantage.

The Pirates scratched out a run in the third, McLouth doubling, reaching third on Sanchez's groundout and scoring on Bay's single to left, the first of his four-RBI night.

In the next inning, the home side scored that touchdown.

The seven runs came on the two-run Castillo homer, the Sanchez fielder's choice, the three-run Bay homer and the homer by Craig Wilson that followed Bay's homer.

All that finally chased Astros starter Taylor Buchholz (3-4), who had crafted a two-hit shutout victory against them April 22. Castillo's homer was his second in six days after going six weeks and a day without one.

After those 14 one-run losses and near-miss rallies and bases-loaded failures, Bay concluded, this fireworks night "was a culmination all at once."