Bucs snap 10-game losing skid

The Pirates needed 12 innings to defeat the Diamondbacks.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Pirates went through two managers and a pair of 12-inning games in three days before finally ending a record-tying home losing streak.
Humberto Cota singled home the winning run in the 12th, and the Pirates overcame Tony Clark's two homers and five RBIs to end a 10-game home losing streak with an 8-7 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
"This feels really good, because we didn't want to break that record," Cota said.
The Pirates lost 10 in a row at home for only the second time in their 119-season history and the first time since 1968. Their first victory in Pete Mackanin's three games as interim manager since replacing the fired Lloyd McClendon also ended a six-game overall losing streak.
"Hopefully, this relaxes everyone and we can start playing better ball," Mackanin said.
With a 56-83 record, they can't play much worse.
Bay homers
Pittsburgh was within two outs of losing following Clark's second homer, a three-run go-ahead drive in the ninth, when Jason Bay hit a tying two-run shot -- his 26th -- in the bottom of the inning off Tim Worrell. Worrell blew his third save in four opportunities.
In the top of the inning, Jose Mesa blew his third consecutive save opportunity by giving up Clark's 25th homer. Clark also hit a two-run drive in the first off Josh Fogg during his 17th career multi-homer game.
"The goal is to shake hands at the end of the day," Clark said of his big day in a losing cause. "If it's a 5-for-5 that does it or a 0-for-5, it doesn't matter."
After the Pirates couldn't score with the bases loaded in the 11th, Rob Mackowiak singled off Buddy Groom (0-1), Arizona's seventh pitcher, to start the 12th and moved up on Freddy Sanchez's sacrifice bunt. Cota, who doubled in a run in the eighth, then singled to center to give Pittsburgh its first home victory since Aug. 23.
"It's good to finally win a game -- it seems like it's a lot longer than it's actually been," Bay said.
Bucs rally
The Pirates came back from deficits of 2-0, 4-3, and 7-5. Rick White (4-6) pitched a scoreless 12th for the victory.
Right-hander Dustin Nippert made his major-league debut for Arizona 14 months after having reconstructive elbow surgery, but couldn't hold a 2-0 lead supplied by Clark's first homer. Nippert, who had a Double-A Southern League-best 2.38 ERA at Tennessee before being promoted, allowed three runs and five hits in five innings.
Nippert had a chance for the win, which would have delighted the estimated 200 fans in attendance from his nearby hamlet of Beallsville, Ohio -- almost half the village's population of 443.
Nippert was lifted after five innings because of a torn fingernail on his right index finger that prevented him from properly gripping his curve ball. He left with a 4-3 lead following Luis Terrero's two-run homer on the first pitch thrown by reliever Brian Meadows in the sixth, but Craig Wilson's homer off reliever Greg Aquino tied it in the bottom of the sixth.