John Heller, Associated Press Jose Castillo, left, and Jose Bautista score on a Chris Duffy single in the fourth inning against the Brewers last night at PNC Park. The name "BOB" on the Pirates' jerseys is in honor of the late Pittsburgh mayor Bob O'Connor. Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Pirates Notebook: Cost of business in Latin America soars Stats Geek: Can a pitcher's prowess be decided early?

Perhaps the Pirates could describe their approach as Dink, Duke and D.

They have little power at the plate, but they seem increasingly capable of scratching out enough offense to win, as was the case in a seven-single, 4-3 clipping of the Milwaukee Brewers last night at PNC Park.

They lack power on the mound, too, but Zach Duke and the rest of the mostly finesse staff have compensated in recent weeks by combining control with sound defensive support.

In this one, Duke went eight innings, limited Milwaukee to two runs and five hits and benefited from a diving stab by third baseman Freddy Sanchez that quashed a rally in the sixth. Salomon Torres wobbled in the ninth but slipped through, thanks largely to an acrobatic, across-the-body throw by shortstop Jack Wilson from deep in the hole.

"Pitching, defense and enough offense to win," manager Jim Tracy said. "That's exactly what we did."

The Pirates might have no choice:

Their total of 131 home runs ranks 15th in the 16-team National League, and their .402 slugging percentage is lowest in Major League Baseball.

Their pitchers' rate of 6.7 strikeouts per nine innings is near the league average, but that masks a .364 opponents' on-base percentage that is the league's highest and provides a better indicator of how many pitches are avoiding bats.

Their fielding percentage of .984 is tied for sixth in the National League despite a poor first half.

"This is what wins look like for us," left fielder Jason Bay said. "You look at the team we have, we're not going to score 10 runs a game. We're going to pitch the ball like Duke did, our bullpen will do well, we'll make the plays in the field, and we'll get the hits when we need them."

Or, as right fielder Jose Bautista put it, "All that matters is that we get one more run than the other team, and that's what we've been doing."

NL Batting Title How Freddy Sanchez stands in his bid to become the first Pirates player to win the National League batting title since Bill Madlock in 1983.   LAST GAME: Sanchez went 1 for 4 against the Brewers.   LEADERS  Miguel Cabrera,  Marlins .340  Freddy Sanchez,  Pirates .339  Matt Holliday,  Rockies .336 NEXT GAME Today: 7:05 p.m. vs. Brewers. Chris Capuano. Sanchez is 6 for 15 against Capuano.

The Pirates are 13-2 in one-run games since the All-Star break, and six of their past eight victories have come by that margin.

This one was quieter than most, partly because of the small crowd of 13,643, partly because of the soft bats on both sides.

The dinking began in the Pirates' first, when leadoff man Chris Duffy walked against Milwaukee's Doug Davis and scored on Sanchez's groundout.

The Brewers drew even in the second, and the Pirates pushed back ahead in the third when Duke, Duffy and Wilson each singled for another run. Wilson's was a deftly placed bunt to the right side of the mound and the first of his three hits.

Milwaukee's Bill Hall homered against Duke in the fourth, but the Pirates broke the 2-2 tie with two in the bottom half. Bautista was hit by a pitch and Jose Castillo walked. Duke bunted them over and Duffy dropped a two-out, two-run bloop just behind third baseman David Bell.

"A big hit for us," Tracy said. "We didn't get a lot of offense, but that counted."

It held up until Torres' nail-biting ninth.

After Wilson's gem brought the second out, Geoff Jenkins' RBI single brought Milwaukee within 4-3, and Tony Gwynn followed with a single to put men at first and second. But Torres schooled rookie Drew Anderson by fanning him on three consecutive split-fingered fastballs, including the finale in the dirt.

"A tough one," Torres said of his sixth save in as many chances.

For Duke, the victory that moved his record to 9-13 was the reward for an exasperating stretch of six starts in which he was 0-3 despite a 2.91 ERA.

"It's been kind of frustrating lately, having nothing to show for it," he said. "So this is kind of gratifying."

He struck out seven, walked two and threw 61 of 95 pitches for strikes. Most impressive was a dominating sinker for a second consecutive outing.

"I'm really on top of the ball and driving it downhill."

The only negative to the evening: Sanchez fell out of the league batting lead for the first time since July 2. His 1-for-4 night, part of a 3-for-16 mini-slump, dropped his average to .339, while the Florida Marlins' Miguel Cabrera rose to .340 after going 2 for 3 against the New York Mets.