PITTSBURGH — Maybe hosting the All-Star game was all the Pittsburgh Pirates needed to regain respectability.

Joe Randa drove in three runs and the Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies 6-5 Wednesday to win their second consecutive series since the All-Star break. Pittsburgh won two series in a row for only the second time this season.

"It's a real good homestand and a real good start to the second half," manager Jim Tracy said.

Randa, who began the season as the Pirates' starting third baseman but lost his job after going on the disabled list, went 2-for-4 and has hit .500 (11-for-22) with nine RBI in his last five starts.

"I have a lot of confidence in myself and feel like I'm healthy and know I'm doing the things I'm capable of doing," Randa said. "It was a fun game out there today."

Ronny Paulino had a two-run double and Sean Casey got two hits and scored two runs for Pittsburgh, which scored all its runs with two outs — three each in the third and sixth.

"That's why you get three outs in an inning," Casey said. "Just because you get two quick outs doesn't mean the inning's over. We proved that today."

Zach Duke (7-8) won for the first time in more than a month, allowing four runs and seven hits in six innings, walking two and striking out five. He last won June 14 against St. Louis.

Mike Gonzalez allowed a run in the ninth but got his 15th save, a club record for a left-hander. He struck out Matt Holliday and Ryan Shealy with the bases loaded to end it.

"I was only out there a few minutes, but it seemed like I was there forever," said Gonzalez, who bested a team record held by four other players, most recently Ricardo Rincon in 1998. "It's one of those things you've got to experience. I kind of had to get to the point where I said, here is my best stuff. Try to hit it and see what you can do with it."

Shealy had two hits and two runs, and Luis Gonzalez had two RBI for Colorado, which has lost nine of 10.

The only other time the Pirates, who also took two of three from Washington last weekend, won two series in a row was when they took six of seven at home from Houston and Milwaukee from May 26 to June 1.