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Giants-Pirates Preview

Jul 19, 2009 - 3:44 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

San Francisco (49-40) at Pittsburgh (39-50), 1:35 p.m. EDT

Earlier this week, Pittsburgh Pirates starter Zach Duke replaced an injured San Francisco Giants' Matt Cain on the NL All-Star team. On Sunday, they'll get a chance to oppose each other for the first time in over three years.

Duke will try to add to the Giants' woes in this series as the Pirates look to complete their second three-game home sweep of San Francisco in as many years.

Pittsburgh (40-50) had Duke (8-8, 3.29 ERA) named to the All-Star team for the first time this week when Cain (10-2, 2.38) was removed from the active roster after he was hit in his pitching arm by a line drive off the bat of San Diego's Tim Stauffer on July 10. A Giants spokesman said X-rays of Cain's pitching arm showed no significant damage and the injury was diagnosed as a bruise.

Cain will be making the start Sunday.

"I should be fine," Cain told the Giants' official Web site. "I have swelling (in the arm), but nothing out of the ordinary."

The Giants (49-41) probably aren't excited about facing Duke after being stifled by Pirates starters in the first two games of this series. Paul Maholm allowed an unearned run in eight innings of a 2-1, 14-inning win Friday, and Charlie Morton worked seven innings Saturday in a 2-0 victory.

San Francisco has lost three straight overall, and five in a row at Pittsburgh. The Giants have 12 hits, four walks and 18 strikeouts in this series.

"It's been a rough start here, but it's two games. It is what it is," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We'll get in a rhythm."

Duke, who is 6-3 with a 2.77 ERA in nine home starts, could pose another challenge for the Giants. He posted a 1.65 ERA in winning two starts against San Francisco last year.

The left-hander, though, is 0-3 with a 4.29 ERA in his last three starts. The Pirates have scored a total of six runs in those games.

Cain, meanwhile, is 0-2 with a 5.63 ERA in four career starts against Pittsburgh. He has been unable to slow down Pirates All-Star second baseman Freddy Sanchez, who is 7 for 13 versus him.

The right-hander won six straight starts from May 17-June 14, and is 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA in his last five outings.

The only previous time Cain and Duke met was on June 8, 2006, when the Giants won 5-4. Neither starter got a decision and both allowed three runs - Cain in four innings and Duke over six-plus.

San Francisco was able to keep Pittsburgh rookie Garrett Jones in the ballpark Saturday. Jones had a double in four at-bats after homering in his four previous games, going deep twice Friday.

"We're pitching well," Bochy said. "You can say the same thing for the other club... But they're getting enough runs to beat us."

Pittsburgh has won just three of its last 10 games, scoring 25 runs in the process.

"We need to obviously swing the bats better and score some more runs so our guys don't have to throw shutouts," Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson said.