• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Pirates-Astros Preview

Jun 6, 2009 - 4:51 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Pittsburgh (25-28) at Houston (23-29), 7:05 p.m. EDT

The Pittsburgh Pirates had just one player who had ever homered off Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt entering this season, and he was traded away earlier this week.

Coming off their worst game at the plate since dealing Nate McLouth, the Pirates look to end their troubles against Oswalt on Saturday night in the middle game of this series.

Pittsburgh (25-29) beat the New York Mets 11-6 on Thursday after trading McLouth to Atlanta the previous day. It was the Pirates' fourth win in five games.

But Pittsburgh was held to six hits in a 9-1 loss to Houston (24-29) on Friday night, clearly missing its old No. 3 batter.

McLouth was perhaps the Pirates' best all-around hitter. He was the only player on Pittsburgh's roster to homer off Oswalt (2-2, 4.28 ERA), connecting once while batting .308 (8 for 26) against him.

That was the only home run Oswalt has allowed to the Pirates in his last 10 starts against them, going 7-1 with a 1.46 ERA during that span. The veteran right-hander is 13-6 with a 2.40 ERA in 24 starts and one relief appearance lifetime versus Pittsburgh, yielding just five homers in 169 innings.

Oswalt, trying to bounce back from a rough stretch in May, earned a win in his last start, surrendering one run and six hits while striking out a season-high eight over seven innings in Houston's 4-1 victory over Colorado on Monday night.

He had allowed at least three runs in his previous five outings, an unusually mediocre stretch for a pitcher who's perennially one of the majors' best.

"No matter how long you play this game, you're going to run into a skid where you're not doing too well," said Oswalt. "I think some of the guys in the Hall of Fame actually ran into a few skids here and there. You're only human," he said. "A lot of people go through a lot of things. The good ones come out of it."

Pittsburgh will counter with Paul Maholm (3-2, 3.82), who has given up two runs or fewer in three of his last four starts but hasn't won since April 22. The left-hander faced the Astros in his last outing, suffering a loss at home despite limiting them to two runs - one earned - and eight hits in seven innings as the Pirates were defeated 2-1 on Sunday.

He's been terrible on the road against the Astros, going 1-3 with an 8.69 ERA in four starts, and is 5-4 with a 4.50 ERA in 10 starts against them overall.

Houston slugger Carlos Lee is just 4 for 26 (.154) against Maholm, but he hit his 13th career grand slam in this series' opener as the Astros won for the fifth time in their last six contests and had their largest victory margin this season.

"It feels like every game we play out there is a battle," Lee said. "It felt good to just relax out there."

Lee has a 12-game home hitting streak against the Pirates, batting .362 (17 for 47) during that stretch. His nine homers are tied with Lance Berkman for the team lead.

Pittsburgh is hoping one of its best run producers will return to the lineup Saturday. Third baseman Andy LaRoche, batting .298 with 27 RBIs in his first season as a full-time starter, sat out Friday with a bruised right knee.

"Hopefully, it's just a one-day thing," Pirates manager John Russell said.