HOUSTON -- Tonight's seventh inning served to snap many things for the Pirates.

First, a tied game was ripped right open.

Second, there was that three-game losing streak fractured, ended in the span of four batters.

And that skid where the team had dropped five of its last six games? That was done, too.

On the strength of a four-run seventh, the Pirates earned a much-needed win, a 6-3 victory against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

To string together four runs in one inning is something even the most ardent Pirates fan probably didn't expect, considering the recent offensive futility of a team that had scored four runs, total, over the three games just prior to last night --- but the Pirates found a way to get it done in that seventh.

Garrett Jones, Andy LaRoche and Ramon Vazquez drew one-out walks before Jason Jaramillo hit a sharp grounder to Astros first baseman Lance Berkman, who made a throwing error to the plate to give the Pirates a 3-2 advantage.

From there, Delwyn Young, Andrew McCutchen and Jack Wilson had RBI singles and, just like that, an inning that began 2-2 turned into a 6-2 Pirates lead.

The offensive punch in that inning complemented a solid effort from starting pitcher Paul Maholm, as he rebounded from a terrible outing last week in Florida where he yielded 11 hits and six runs in 4 1/3 innings to work six strong innings last night, giving up six hits.

In the third inning is when the Pirates struck first, making it 2-0 on a two-out rally that was two-pronged, with both parts equally as important.

First, McCutchen's line drive into right centerfield was tracked down just before the warning track by center fielder Michael Bourn. McCutchen looked as if he had his eyes on a triple --- or at least trying to stretch it to three bases.

But as the rookie rounded second, he slammed on the brakes in a show of his ever-growing maturity, taking the surefire double rather than the calculated risk (particularly with two outs) and heading for third on what more than likely would have been a close play.

From there, the second component to the two-run, two-out rally came --- and this one more thunderous.

Wilson unloaded on an 0-1 changeup from starter Brian Moehler, driving it into the left field seats for his fourth home run of the season.

The Wilson home run continued a pronounced flexing of his muscles at Minute Maid Park, as it was his 10th career home run at the venue. For some perspective on how much his power numbers spike at the stadium, consider this: While playing many more games at PNC Park, Wilson has hit just 24 home runs in his career there. Also, of all away parks, the one in which he has the next most punch is at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, where he's hit four career home runs.

The lead, however, was sliced in half quickly, as the Astros cut it to 2-1 in the bottom of the third when a Berkman groundout scored Bourn.

It was one of just a few hiccups on Maholm's the night.

Maholm started strong, needing just five pitches to get out of the first, and although he gave up two hits in the second, he forced Hunter Pence to roll into a 5-4-3 double play.

After rolling through the fourth and fifth, a crucial span for Maholm came in the sixth, as he was saddled with the task of facing Houston's heart of the order; Miguel Tejada, Berkman Carlos Lee and Pence. The Astros tied it at 2-2 that inning, but the strange part about what took place is that they didn't do it with power, instead manufacturing a run.

Berkman had a one-out single, tagged up and went to second on a Lee flyout to center and was able to scoot home when Pence hit an excuse-me flare into right field, making it 2-2.

But that was all before the Pirates' seventh inning outburst.