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Pirates-Marlins Preview

Jul 4, 2009 - 4:11 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Pittsburgh (36-43) at Florida (41-39), 6:10 p.m. EDT

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been the beneficiaries of some excellent starting pitching recently against the Florida Marlins, including an outstanding performance to lift them in their series opener at Land Shark Stadium.

Zach Duke seems more than capable of continuing that trend.

Duke has been one of baseball's top left-handed starters this season, and he'll try to add to his impressive string of quality starts Saturday when the Pirates look for their sixth straight win against the Marlins.

Last season, three of the top four ERAs belonged to southpaws. In 2009, however, right-handed starters have the top 13 ERAs in baseball.

Duke (8-6, 3.13 ERA), though, has been an exception. The left-hander won just eight times in 50 starts over the past two years while posting a 5.08 ERA, but he's already equaled that total in 2009. His ERA is down nearly two runs from the 2007-2008 stretch, and it ranks third in the majors among lefties.

Twelve of Duke's 16 appearances for Pittsburgh (37-43) have been quality starts, including his last four. He gave up three runs over seven innings Monday against the Chicago Cubs, but lost 3-1.

"I just concentrate on giving us a chance to win," Duke, who's 0-2 with a 5.68 ERA in four career starts against Florida, told the Pirates' official Web site.

Pittsburgh, which has scored one or fewer runs a major league-high 20 times, has scored five total runs in Duke's six losses.

"I think we've struggled to give a lot of pitchers support this year," said second baseman Freddy Sanchez, who's hitting a team-best .316. "We've been inconsistent up and down. We just haven't been able to give any run support on any consistent basis."

Sanchez is day-to-day after sitting out Friday's opener against the Marlins (41-40) with tightness in his lower back, but the Pirates' offense gave starter Charlie Morton plenty of support. Utility infielder Ramon Vazquez and Brandon Moss homered to back six one-hit innings by Morton in a 7-4 victory.

"When you get run support you know you just have to stay in the game," Morton said after picking up his first win with Pittsburgh.

Including Morton's performance, Pirates starters are 5-0 with a 1.74 ERA during the club's five-game winning streak against Florida.

Morton and three relievers also managed to keep Hanley Ramirez hitless in four at-bats, ending his franchise-record 10-game streak with at least one RBI.

Ramirez, who batted .475 during that 10-game run, is 4 for 9 with an RBI in his career against Duke.

The Marlins will also have a left-hander on the mound, Andrew Miller (2-4, 4.45). The 24-year-old has been a much better pitcher at home, where he's 2-0 with a 3.11 ERA. On the road, Miller is 0-4 with a 6.33 ERA.

His latest start came at Tampa Bay on Sunday, and Miller left after allowing five runs and eight hits over 6 1-3 innings in a 5-2 loss.

"I've had outings where I've proved I'm good enough to do this, it just hasn't been where I can consistently do it over the course of a season, or consistently over a long stretch of time," Miller told the Marlins' official Web site.

Miller gave up four runs and five hits while walking four over 4 2-3 innings in an 8-0 loss at Pittsburgh on April 20, his lone career start against the Pirates.