By The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - Maybe Kevin Young was right. The Pittsburgh first baseman said earlier this season that small and apathetic crowds at PNC Park played a role in the Pirates' poor home record.

The Pirates won just eight of their first 29 home games, failed to win a home series in the first 2 1/2 months and did not sell out any of their first 34 home games.

But as the crowds have improved, so have the Pirates (33-43), who've won six of eight home games and eight of 12 overall to pull within seven games of first place in the NL Central.

The Pirates have won two consecutive home series and have sold out three consecutive games, including the second-largest crowd of the season (37,566) Friday night for a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Josh Fogg won his first home game of the season, and Matt Stairs drove in two runs for the Pirates.

"We just have to keep playing the baseball we're playing," said reliever Mike Williams, who pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 21st save. "We're still making mistakes, but we're making improvements. We still have a shot. We're not 15 games back by any means."

Fogg (4-3) allowed nine hits and two runs in 5 2-3 innings to win for the first time in four starts at home this season.

"Foggie lived on the edge all night and kept me on the edge, as well," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. "We thought if he could give us six innings, our bullpen would match up well."

Stairs has 12 hits in his last 28 at-bats. Normally a right fielder, he made his third start at first base and gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead in the fourth when he pulled Jason Jennings' 3-1 pitch over the wall in right-center for his fifth homer of the season.

Stairs is 17-for-42 (.405) since returning from the disabled list (torn ligament in his right hand) and a brief rehabilitation stint at Triple-A Nashville.

"He went down and got consistent at-bats," McClendon said. "It got him in a groove."

The Pirates made it 5-1 in the fifth when Jennings (7-6) issued a full-count, bases-loaded walk to Aramis Ramirez as the crowd roared. Stairs then beat out a high chopper to second, driving in another run. Reggie Sanders followed with an RBI single up the middle, but center fielder Preston Wilson threw out Ramirez at home to end the inning. All three runs were unearned, thanks to an error by first baseman Todd Helton on Kenny Lofton's hard-hit ball.

Jennings, who was looking to tie a team record with a win in five straight starts, allowed five runs - two earned - six hits and five walks in five innings.

"He was inconsistent," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said.

Rockies catcher Charles Johnson homered with two outs in the second to put Colorado up 1-0. The Pirates tied it in the third when Jason Kendall singled to center and Wilson appeared to throw out Jeff Reboulet trying to score, but Johnson dropped the ball during his sweep tag. Umpire Derryl Cousins first called Reboulet out, then changed his call when he saw the ball sitting on the ground. That prompted an argument from Hurdle.

"Charles took it out of his glove to show (Cousins) the ball," Hurdle said.

Trailing 5-2, the Rockies rallied in the seventh, putting runners on first and third with two outs. With right-handed hitting Jay Payton at the plate, McClendon replaced Scott Sauerbeck with right-hander Brian Boehringer. Payton singled to right to make it 5-3, but Mark Bellhorn popped out to end the threat.

Notes

The Rockies are 12-27 on the road and 291-13 at Coors Field. ... Colorado reliever Matt Miller made his major league debut and pitched a scoreless sixth inning.