Pittsburgh, PA (Best E Casino) - Yoslan Herrera was solid on the mound to pick up his first major league win, and the Pittsburgh Pirates made short work of the San Diego Padres, 9-1, in the opener of a four-game set.

Herrera (1-1) tossed six innings of scoreless, six-hit ball while fanning four batters and walking just one. Xavier Nady and Jason Bay clubbed solo homers for the Pirates, who have rattled off four straight wins after a five-game skid. Nate McLouth added a two-run shot and finished with three RBI.

"I'm very happy to get my first win," Herrera said. "I was looking at video on myself and I had to make adjustments. I pitched on the corners more this time than the previous starts."

Clay Hensley (1-1) took the loss as he was touched for six runs on seven hits. Hensley, who has not started since last August and has made just three relief appearances this season, got the call in place of left-hander Randy Wolf, who was dealt to Houston earlier this week.

"I think the sinker was there when I stayed on top of it," Hensley said. "I think it's something we'll work on during the course of the week. The results were probably a little bit worse than I felt tonight."

Adrian Gonzalez knocked in the only run for San Diego, which has dropped three straight and 9-of-10 overall.

The Bucs wasted no time in getting on the board. McLouth led the home first off with a walk and Freddy Sanchez followed with a single. Ryan Doumit then cracked an RBI double down the line in right and Bay belted a sac fly to center to make it 2-0.

Bay and Nady opened the fourth frame with back-to-back home runs, which marked the first time the Pirates have hit consecutive blasts this season, to make it a 4-0 game.

The Pirates tacked on two more in the sixth. Nady singled and Adam LaRoche walked before Justin Hampson was called on in relief of Hensley. Doug Mientkiewicz loaded the bases with a single and pinch-hitter Chris Gomez worked an RBI walk. Luis Rivas then flied out, but McLouth launched a sac fly to center to give Pittsburgh a 6-0 cushion.

San Diego got on the board in the eighth inning. Jody Gerut led off with a double before Edgar Gonzalez and Brian Giles were retired. Gonzalez followed with an RBI single.

Pittsburgh got three runs back in the home half. Mientkiewicz hit a double, moved to third as Bryan Corey unleashed a wild pitch and scored as Rivas singled. McLouth then cleared the table with a two-run homer for the final margin.

Game Notes

Hensley won 11 games in 37 appearances -- 29 starts -- for the Padres in 2006, then was 2-3 in 13 games -- nine starts -- a season later. Prior to Thursday, Hensley had pitched three times this month, allowing just a hit in five scoreless innings and getting credit for a 6-4 victory at Cincinnati on July 21...San Diego was 6-1 against the Bucs last season and had won 11 of the 13 meetings since the start of the 2006 campaign prior to Thursday's setback...San Diego owns the worst record in the majors at 38-65.