Of all the days the Billings Mustangs could have snapped their losing cycle, this was it.

Starting pitcher Shea Snowden had his best outing of the season, and the team got some timely hitting in the middle innings to take a lead late in the game.

Still, it wasn't enough to prevent a 3-2 setback to the Missoula Osprey Saturday afternoon.

The loss was Billings' seventh straight at Dehler Park, its fourth in a row overall, and its third consecutive one-run defeat.

The Mustangs have done their best to avoid showing much frustration despite a 2-10 start to their season. Snowden, who allowed one run on four hits in 5º innings, said the Mustangs will break out soon.

"It's going to turn around eventually," said the left-hander, who entered the game with a 7.88 earned run average. "We're going to start swinging the bats and the pitching is going to come into place. Everybody just needs to find a rhythm. Until then we're going to have to keep fighting for wins."

After battling through two scoreless innings to open the game, Snowden settled in and fashioned a gem.

He didn't run into trouble until the sixth inning when, after retiring Bobby Stone on a fly ball, Snowden gave up a double to Ramon Castillo.

At that point, Mustangs manager Julio Garcia decided to lift Snowden from the game, and Snowden walked off the field to a nice ovation.

"I felt like I had a lot better command of my pitches," Snowden said. "In my last two starts I was a little wild; I couldn't find the release point or anything. But this week we worked on getting through the ball a little more. I was impressed with the changes we made."

The Mustangs' middle relief could not protect the lead.

Billings' James Walczak (0-2) gave up an RBI single to Paul Goldschmidt in the sixth, then allowed four consecutive hitters to reach base in the seventh as the Osprey grabbed a one-run lead.

From there Billings' offense could not muster much of anything against Missoula relievers Charles Brewer and Ryan Robowski.

"It was unfortunate because James usually throws the ball pretty good," Garcia said. "He was just having trouble getting it down in the strike zone."

The Mustangs seized a one-run lead in the third inning on Alex Oliveras' RBI single that scored recent call-up D.D. Gregorius.

They added to it in the fifth when Gregorius scored on Oliveras' one-out squeeze bunt.

Gregorius, a native of The Netherlands, finished with a single, a double and two runs, and also showed good defensive range at short stop.

Brewer (1-0) earned the victory in relief of Missoula starter Anthony Smith. Smith hurled five innings, giving up one earned run on six hits.

Robowski picked up his third save.

Brian Pearl shined in relief for the Mustangs. A ninth-round pick from the University of Washington in the June draft, Pearl threw 2º scoreless innings, striking out six while surrendering two hits.

The Mustangs will try to close their current home stand with a victory today against Missoula before hitting the road on a seven-game trip to Orem and Ogden, Utah.

"We'll do what we can to get it," Garcia said. "When we've done things well it seems like we can't get a break. Either that or we self-destruct.

"Hopefully we can play a little bit better all the way through. Maybe a clutch hit here or there will be the difference."

NOTES: Billings made three more errors, raising its season total to 29 in 12 games. … The Mustangs wore blue Fourth of July uniforms with red lettering accompanied with red, white and blue stirrups. They were sold in a silent auction during the game. … Infielder Thomas Nurre was added to the Mustangs' roster on Saturday. Nurre was a 38th-round draft choice from Miami (Ohio) in the June draft.

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