Catcher Ronny Paulino had his first four-hit game as a major leaguer and recorded three RBI in the Pirates' 12-5 victory over Houston Friday.

PITTSBURGH — After watching this catcher, and the rest of the Pittsburgh Pirates' unusually productive lineup, it was Houston Astros manager Phil Garner who probably felt like crying.

Jason Bay homered for the fourth consecutive game and drove in four runs, and the Pirates had a season-high 16 hits in beating Houston 12-5 Friday night, the Astros' fourth consecutive loss.

Pirates rookie Ronny Paulino, enjoying a much better game than the opposing catcher did against the Astros the day before, had his first four-hit game in the majors. Craig Wilson and Jose Castillo also homered during a three-homer fourth inning against Taylor Buchholz (3-4), who shut out the Pirates for 8 2-3 innings the last time he opposed them.

"We made mistakes tonight, and they absolutely pounded them," Garner said of his defending NL champions, losers of eight of 11 overall and 10 of 12 on the road. "That's been a problem the last few series, we haven't been able to get the ball where we wanted to. ... It's a mystery because we're better than that, but we're in a rotten rut right now."

The Astros lost 8-5 Thursday in Washington, despite stealing seven bases — forcing Nationals manager Frank Robinson to pull backup catcher Matthew LeCroy in the middle of an inning. Afterward, Robinson got teary-eyed explaining why he had to yank his catcher.

On Friday night, the Astros never could get the opposing catcher out.

Paulino wasn't on the Pirates' season-opening roster and wasn't expected to make an impact this season, but has won the everyday job by playing well defensively and batting .310. He doubled in the Pirates' first run in the second, then had three consecutive singles.

"I felt good at the plate," Paulino said. "My primary job is to work with the pitcher, but I know I can hit."

So can Bay, who got off to a relatively slow start — he was hitting .250 on May 3 — but has 25 RBIs in 13 games and has jumped his average to .304.

Bay had a run-scoring single in the third as the Pirates began to rally from a 4-1 deficit, then followed with a three-run drive in the seven-run fourth that put the Pirates up 8-4. Bay has eight homers in 32 at-bats in eight games, including two two-homer games, and is the first Pirate to homer in four consecutive games since Barry Bonds from Aug. 18-21, 1987.

"This is the first time this has happened to me at any level," Bay said. "It's getting a little surreal. I'm starting to pinch myself. You always want to manage the cold streaks and ride the hot streaks, and hopefully this one will last a while."