Ed Zurga, Associated Press Starting pitcher Ian Snell throws against the Royals in the first inning last night in Kansas City, Mo. Click photo for larger image. Today Matchup: Pirates (Paul Maholm 2-5) vs. Royals (Scott Elarton 2-8), 2:10 p.m. Where: Kauffman Stadium. Radio: KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network. Related articles Pirates sign 1st-round pick Lincoln Pirates Notebook: Walker, Gorzelanny look to the Futures Game Statistics Provided by Forecaster Pirates vs. Royals box score Game play-by-play

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Give these Pirates credit.

Although so many of their losses look so much the same, including the 6-4 shortfall to the Kansas City Royals last night at Kauffman Stadium, they consistently find fresh ways to bottom out.

There is losing, and there is blowing a four-run lead on back-to-back nights to the worst team in Major League Baseball.

There is ignominy, and there is getting swept by an opponent that owns 21 victories in late June, which will happen if the Royals take the three-game series' finale this afternoon.

There are slumps, and there is losing seven in a row to match a season high.

"Man, it's frustrating," shortstop Jack Wilson said in a palpably tense clubhouse. "We score four in the first two innings, then nothing the rest of the game. We get good pitching, good defense ..."

He shook his head.

"It seems like the other team always gets the big hit."

On this night, that belonged to Kansas City's Mark Teahen.

Reliever Salomon Torres opened the eighth with a 4-4 tie, and Emil Brown welcomed him with a leadoff single through the left side. One out later, Teahen crushed Torres' first pitch fastball -- at 88 mph, a splitter that had little split -- over the 410-foot marker in right-center.

Torres was tougher on himself than Teahen was.

"I officially stunk today," he said. "I didn't commit fully to that pitch, and that's what happens when you're not concentrating enough to keep the ball down. To be honest with you, I'm disgusted. I'm very embarrassed. This loss is on me. I feel responsible."

Torres has made 44 appearances, most in the majors, and has been scored upon in his past three. But all concerned adamantly reject the notion that he is tired.

"The velocity is there. His arm is fine," manager Jim Tracy said. "It just wasn't a good split."

"Physically, I feel fine," Torres said. "But, when you don't make the pitches you're supposed to make at this level, they're going to get hit. I didn't do my job."

As almost always is the case, though, the loss was not about any one pitch or any one at-bat. It was about a string of failure:

The Pirates scored once in the first on Sean Casey's groundout, but Jason Bay and Jeromy Burnitz each stranded a runner at third.

They added two in the second on Jose Castillo's RBI single and Ronny Paulino's groundout, but Bay left bases loaded by bouncing into a force play.

They went up, 4-0, in the sixth on Paulino's two-out, run-scoring liner, but men were left at second and third when Wilson struck out looking.

In the ninth, too, there was a golden chance to cut into Kansas City's 6-4 lead when Jose Bautista walked and Wilson singled to start it off against closer Ambiorix Burgos. But Casey struck out over a ferocious slider, and Bay extended his 0-for-10 slide by bouncing into a 6-3 double play.

"We got off to a good start, and we had some opportunities to really open the game up," Tracy said. "And they got away from us. As a result, we left 'em hanging around, and they pecked away and got back in it."

The Pirates were 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position, 4 for 30 the past three games.

Ian Snell was no better at finishing the job for a second consecutive start. He blanked the Royals through five on three hits, but they turned a 4-0 deficit into a 4-4 tie in the sixth before he could record a second out.

"I don't know what to say," he said in a hushed tone. "I just didn't have it again in the later innings. I had it in the first five, and everything just goes to [expletive]."

Mark Grudzielanek's one-out flare to right-center drove in one run. Doug Mientkiewicz walked, and Brown brought home Grudzielanek with a double to right. Matt Stairs' RBI single pulled the Royals within 4-3, and Tracy pulled Snell.

Matt Capps fanned Teahen, but Angel Berroa sent an RBI squibber through the right side to tie the score.

It was reminiscent of Snell's previous start, Friday against Minnesota, when he held the Twins scoreless through six but was knocked out by a three-run seventh. The Pirates lost, 4-2.

"Very similar," Tracy said. "Ian did a good job overall but, again, it comes down to giving the other team chances."

It will be up to Paul Maholm today to help the Pirates avert their seventh -- and by far most humbling -- sweep of the season.

But for Kansas City, which would win four in a row for the first time, a victory might be quite the event.

"It's encouraging," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "This is the point of it all: You just keep playing the game. It's not a perfect game, but you keep playing."