"With Lastings Milledge's four RBIs, Andrew McCutchen reaching base all five times up, Pedro Alvarez's first career hit and an overall fist-clenching show of emotion, it finally came to an end.

The losing streak, at 12 games.

The long faces.

The lingering feeling that everything would go wrong.

And, if the Pirates have their way, their 6-4 victory against the Cleveland Indians Saturday night before an overflow crowd of 38,008 at PNC Park, a dynamite game all-around, will represent not only an end but also a desperately needed fresh start.

"It's been a hard month," manager John Russell said. "But you do have to find bottom somewhere, and you move on, you keep going forward. We have a lot of reasons to be excited here. ... This was fun. We had a lot of fun out there."

It was obvious, from the open celebrations after hustling efforts to the playful, two-fingered I-see-you gestures to pretty much everything Milledge and McCutchen did.

Close friends off the field, they combined to go 6 for 7 with four walks and five runs. Milledge tripled, doubled, singled and drew an 11-pitch walk in going 4 for 5. McCutchen tripled, singled and walked three times -- one of his drew 11 pitches, as well --.

Milledge is 7 for 11 on the homestand to drive his average up to .276, and he might not be getting platooned anymore."