BRADENTON, Fla. - Kevin Brown of the Yankees was so concerned with staying on his throwing schedule he flew back to Florida from his Georgia home only hours after his wife gave birth.

Only a few pitches later, he probably thought it was a bad idea.

Matt Lawton led off Pittsburgh's first inning with a homer, and Brown was roughed up for seven runs and eight hits in 4

innings by one of the majors' lightest-hitting teams Wednesday in the Yankees' 9-4 loss.

Ty Wigginton drove in four runs with a homer and a double, and Rob Mackowiak, whose .577 average is one of the best among major league regulars, homered twice - once off Brown - and drove in three runs.

Brown probably wishes he stayed at home with wife Candace, who gave birth to the couple's fourth child, son Jacob Maclain, Tuesday. Brown flew into nearby Sarasota Wednesday morning to make his start, only to be greeted by 25-mph wind gusts that contributed to a couple of the Pirates' four homers - two off the right-hander.

All but two of the Pirates' 12 hits went for extra bases.

"He was disgusted. He's not happy when he gives up runs," Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre said of Brown. "I thought he was pretty good. We got him up to 78 pitches. We're right on target. He threw 60 last time. We're moving up in the right direction."

Pirates starter Ryan Vogelsong struck out Colin Porter with the bases loaded to get out of a jam in the first and went on to give up three hits and a run in four innings. He struck out four.

"That settled me down, getting out of that with no runs scoring, and got me back in the strike zone," Vogelsong said. "That's my motto for the whole season: No matter what, get them out."

Vogelsong was the Pirates' best starter last spring before going 6-13 with a 6.50 ERA as one of the majors' least-successful starters. He admittedly needed a strong outing to stay in the running with at least three others for the Pirates' No. 5 starter's job he held much of last season.

"When he throws strikes, his stuff is as good as anybody's," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "His biggest problem is consistently throwing strikes."

Mackowiak hasn't had problems with anyone's pitching so far, putting pressure on holdover center fielder Tike Redman. He has six extra-base hits.