BRADENTON, Fla. -- If Ian Snell looked a little jittery, he might have had cause.

Pitching the day after the Pirates approached him about a long-term contract, his three innings this afternoon included a run, four hits, two walks and a wild pitch in what wound up a 4-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers at McKechnie Field.

"I was rushing myself a little bit," Snell said. "I was all giddy, overanxious out there. I couldn't settle down."

Of the team approaching him about a contract, he added: "To me, it's not really about making a whole lot of money. It's about staying here and winning. That's what I want. Believe me, there were times when I wanted to get out as quickly as possible. But with the things you're seeing from ownership and everyone else, things are getting better."

The Pirates are 1-6 in Grapefruit League play and have lost six in a row.

Snell's 29-pitch first inning opened with Curtis Granderson's sharp grounder fielded neatly by first baseman Adam LaRoche. Only Snell failed to cover the bag in time, and a single was awarded. Two batters later, a Sheffield groundout brought home Granderson for a 1-0 Detroit lead.

After a 1-2-3 second against some of Detroit's minor-leaguers, Snell again had trouble with the top of the order in the third: Granderson tripled to center and, after two outs, Marcus Thames lined a first-pitch fastball over the fence in left to make it 3-0.

Snell made some quality pitches, too, including a slider that froze Jacque Jones and changeup under the bat of Dane Sardinha for his two strikeouts.

The Pirates scored in the bottom half when, after singles by Luis Rivas and Nate McLouth, Detroit second baseman Ryan Raburn threw away a double-play relay.

McLouth, back in the lineup for the first time in a week after a tight hamstring slowed him, went 1 for 2 with a walk and a steal.

Sean Burnett, Matt Capps and Masumi Kuwata each pitched a perfect inning of relief. Burnett and Capps each had one strikeout, Kuwata two.

Rivas, bidding to make the team as a reserve infielder, tripled and singled in his three at-bats, as the Pirates finished with only six hits.

The Tigers brought very few of their regulars from Lakeland, Fla., and even manager Jim Leyland did not make the two-hour trip. He sent another former Pirates manager to take his place: Lloyd McClendon.

Before batting practice, McClendon embraced several familiar faces, including Russell, his former third-base coach in Pittsburgh.

When McClendon was asked by the Post-Gazette in early November about Russell's hiring, he declined comment, leading some to speculate there was a rift between the two. But he put that to rest emphatically yesterday.

"No, absolutely not," McClendon said. "Nothing to it at all."

Tomorrow, Tom Gorzelanny will make a two-inning start against the Toronto Blue Jays' Dustin McGowan, 1:05 p.m. in Bradenton, Fla. Zach Duke will pitch the next three innings, followed by Jimmy Barthmaier, Damaso Marte, Casey Fossum and John Grabow. It will be Marte's spring debut.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.