BRADENTON, Fla. -- Ian Snell pitched two fine innings, and Jack Wilson went 3 for 3 with a home run, but the Pirates lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4, today at McKechnie Field.

Casey Smith's shot onto the roof of the Boys and Girls Club beyond left field off reliever Hector Carrasco broke a 4-4 tie with two outs in the ninth.

The lone blemish of Snell's start was a four-pitch walk to Pat Burrell in the second. Otherwise, he threw his full repertoire for strikes and, perhaps, most impressive, retired slugger Ryan Howard with one pitch, a soft bouncer to first.

What did he throw Howard, who took him deep -- very deep -- in this same park last spring?

"Fastball down the middle of the plate," Snell replied with a laugh. "He just swung at it. He's just too impatient. Other guys were letting a couple pitches go by, but he got too happy, I guess."

Snell and Howard have had a playful rivalry for years.

"I felt great," Snell said of his overall showing. "I didn't feel like I was rushing myself or anything. I kept my pitches down, for the most part. My curveball was feeling really good, and my changeup's gotten better."

Wilson's first-inning solo shot gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead. He lifted an 0-1 slider from J.D. Durbin over the left-field fence.

He came up in the second with men at the corners and two outs and lashed a single into center to make it 2-0.

It was Wilson's first action of the spring, and he hopes to extend that .400-plus form he flashed in the final two months of last season.

"The swing feels the same, and it would be really nice if I could carry that over," Wilson said. "But all of spring training, for me, is getting ready defensively. That's my game. That's what I have to do."

Sean Burnett gave up a run and three hits in the third but rebounded for a 1-2-3 fourth.

Philadelphia tied the score in the fifth when Shane Victorino tripled off Jonah Bayliss and scored on a wild pitch, but the Pirates pulled back ahead, 4-2, in the bottom half when the Phillies' Shane Youman -- a pitcher the Pirates released this offseason -- walked four batters, including Steve Pearce and Jose Bautista with the bases loaded.

The Phillies scored one run each off Evan Meek and T.J. Beam before Smith's decisive home run.

Freddy Sanchez, seeing his first game action of the spring, was limited to being the designated hitter because of his right shoulder rehabilitation. He went 1 for 2 with a walk.

Jason Bay's first spring game brought a single and flyout in his four-inning appearance.

The Phillies won the teams' B-game earlier at Pirate City, 4-3.

Chris Gomez and Neil Walker each went 2 for 4 with an RBI. Starter Jimmy Barthmaier had a wild outing -- three runs, two hits, two walks, a hit batsman and wild pitch -- in his two innings. Casey Fossum pitched two perfect innings of relief, Masumi Kuwata one.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.