Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Paul Maholm had a solid performance and the Pirates used three two-run homers to take the second game of a weekend series with the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-3.

Jason Bay, Raul Chavez and Jose Bautista combined to hit three home runs in the first four innings, providing the Pirates with all the offense they needed. Bautista added two more hits in the game, finishing the day 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored.

"I don't think we got a runner on second base tonight," Pirates manager John Russell said. "We took advantage of some pitches out over the plate against a very good pitcher. (Toronto) has one of the better starting rotations in baseball. To take advantage of a few mistakes and not miss and get them - that was a big part of the game for us."

Maholm (5-5) pitched his second consecutive quality start, going seven strong innings for the win, giving up three runs on seven hits, three walks and a strikeout. The Pirates have won two straight after dropping five of their previous six games.

Matt Capps retired all three batters he faced in the ninth for his 17th save of the season.

Jesse Litsch (7-4) lost his third consecutive decision, giving up six runs in six innings on five hits, a walk and two strikeouts. All six runners to reach base off Litch ended up scoring on the three home runs he gave up.

"(Litsch) is a battler. I like him; he works hard (and) he's a good athlete," Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said. "He just got some balls up. When you make some mistakes, you're going to pay for it. That's what happened tonight."

Rod Barajas went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Vernon Wells went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in a losing cause for Toronto, which has now lost seven straight and two in a row since re-hiring Cito Gaston as the team's manager on Friday.

Bay put the Pirates on the scoreboard early in the first inning following a Nate McLouth single, hitting a two-run homer - his 15th - deep to left field to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead.

Chavez doubled the lead in the second, hitting his first home run of the season, making it 4-0 in favor of Pittsburgh.

The Blue Jays got on the board in the fourth when Wells scored on Adam LaRoche's throwing error from first base. After a walk loaded the bases, David Eckstein was unable to capitalize on the opportunity, hitting a weak ground ball to Maholm to end the threat.

The Pirates answered in the bottom of the inning by adding their third two-run homer of the day as Bautista blasted a shot to left field to give the Pirates a comfortable 6-1 lead.

In the sixth, after a one-out single and walk, Barajas knocked in two runs on a double down the right field line, cutting the lead to three. Eckstein singled to center two batters later, but when the slow-footed Barajas attempted to score he was easily thrown out to end the inning.