David Zalubowski, Associated Press Starting pitcher Paul Maholm delivers to the Rockies' Todd Helton in the first inning last night in Denver. The Pirates lost, 5-4. Rockies second baseman Jamey Carroll forces out pinch-runner Nate McLouth on the front end of a double play in the eighth inning last night. Click photo for larger image. Today Matchup: Pirates (Oliver Perez 2-6) vs. Rockeis (Josh Fogg 3-4), 8:05 p.m. Where: Coors Field, Denver. Radio: KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network. Related articles Pirates Notebook: Fogg shrugs off start vs. former mates Amateur Draft: Pirates hope to sign top pick this week Amateur Draft: Pirates grab Pitt's Negrych Amateur Draft: A Royal flush Pirates and local amateur draft picks Amateur Draft first round picks Pirates Q&A with Dejan Kovacevic Smizik: Casey's situation tough call for Pirates Game Statistics Provided by Forecaster Pirates vs. Rockies box score Game play-by-play

DENVER -- The Pirates' clubhouse was silent and almost cleared out, except for the stall under the No. 11.

There sat Humberto Cota, still in full uniform, slumped in his chair, reliving the agonizing ending to his team's 5-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies last night at Coors Field.

And no matter how he might have wished it would change, it kept playing out like this ...

The Pirates were down by two entering the ninth, sending the heart of their order to face Colorado closer Brian Fuentes, seeking to win for the ninth time in 12 games.

Freddy Sanchez opened with a single to left, and Jason Bay walked to put the tying runs aboard.

Craig Wilson and Jose Castillo each struck out swinging under a fastball, but Jeromy Burnitz lashed a single into center to score Sanchez and move Bay to third.

One more would tie it.

Up came Cota, though it might have taken the public-address announcer's call to remind everyone he still was on the roster.

He had not taken an official at-bat in nine games, and he had only one in 14 games since his most recent start May 21. He did not start in this game, either, entering only because Ronny Paulino -- the youngster who supplanted him a month ago as starting catcher -- was pulled for a pinch-runner in the eighth.

Still, Cota worked the count full and fouled off a pitch, then looped a ball over the head of Colorado's 5-foot-9 second baseman, Jamey Carroll.

Surely, it would drop in.

"Yeah, I thought it would," Cota recalled. "Carroll's not a big guy."

"The way he started back," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said, "I thought it would be just out of his reach."

Carroll backpedaled, reached up, snow-coned the ball and somehow kept it from slipping out of the glove as he fell backward.

"He had a big swing," Carroll said. "My first step is back, and I had to turn and jump up. I didn't even realize it was a snow cone. The guys told me about that later. To catch it, it was like ... wow, what a sense of relief."

"Give him credit," Cota said. "It was a big night for him."

To say the least.

Carroll went a career-best 4 for 4, including a solo home run off reliever Salomon Torres in the eighth that would give the Rockies a 5-3 cushion. All that, and he made a circus-worthy play in the sixth when he caught Jose Bautista's foul popup after it ricocheted off the glove of nearby first baseman Todd Helton.

"I think we just got way too much Jamey Carroll tonight," Tracy said. "Every once in a while, you have to tip your cap to the opponent."

Cota was disconsolate, not only because of the final out but also because his lone inning behind the plate was the one in which Carroll drilled Torres' elevated slider into the left-field bleachers.

"That's a big play right there for them, and it's my responsibility," Cota said.

He bristled when asked if his lengthy inactivity might have been to blame.

"There's no excuses," he said. "Whatever time you have off, you've got to do your job, especially when we're winning. I didn't come up with what my team needed. Hopefully, the next chance I get, I'll do the job."

It was the Pirates' 17th one-run loss, most in Major League Baseball.

They squandered a chance to win back-to-back road games for the first time, in large part because starter Paul Maholm could not hold a three-run lead.

Bay opened the fifth by sending a curveball from Colorado starter Jeff Francis the other way for his 18th home run. Wilson walked and, one out later, Jose Hernandez crushed Francis' 86-mph fastball into the bullpen in right-center field for his second home run.

Maholm had tiptoed through four scoreless innings while stranding six, but Colorado broke through for one in the fifth and three more in the sixth.

He would exit without an out in that inning -- the first three batters had hits -- and finish with a line of 11 hits, two walks and a hit batsman in falling to 2-5.

Of the 27 batters Maholm faced, 14 reached safely, and it was not an aberration. He has given up seven or more hits in eight of his 12 starts, and opponents have a .401 on-base percentage against him that is second highest among National League starters.

"It's not like they were stroking the ball," Maholm said of the men on base. "I was throwing the ball in the strike zone, being aggressive, and that's part of it."

The hit that put Colorado ahead for good came in that three-run sixth, after Maholm's departure.

Helton, facing John Grabow with a man on third, two outs and two strikes, rammed a slider up the middle to put the Rockies up, 4-3.

"Great piece of hitting," Tracy said. "Grabow couldn't have made a better pitch."

Helton, 3 for 6 in the series, has a .376 career average against the Pirates, the third highest of any opponent with 150 or more at-bats since 1960. The two ahead of him: Jeff Cirillo (.383) and Tony Fernandez (.381).

The Rockies ended a six-game losing streak.