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Pirates-Diamondbacks Preview

Jul 23, 2009 - 4:19 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Pittsburgh (41-52) at Arizona (40-54), 9:40 p.m. EDT

Few things have gone right for the Arizona Diamondbacks this season, starting with their former Cy Young Award winner going down with a serious injury on opening day.

Dan Haren, however, has played the role of staff ace rather convincingly.

Haren is building a strong case for Arizona's rotation to earn another Cy Young Award, and the major league ERA leader will look to win his fifth straight start Thursday night in the opener of a four-game set with the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.

Brandon Webb and Haren gave the Diamondbacks (40-55) one of the top 1-2 punches in baseball in 2008, but Webb went down with a right shoulder injury in his first start this season.

Haren (10-5, 1.96 ERA), though, hasn't missed a beat without the 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner in front of him in Arizona's rotation. The right-hander leads the majors in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.61) and opponent batting average (.187), and he's in position to post baseball's third sub-2.00 ERA since 2000.

Haren hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last 10 starts, going 7-1 with a 1.44 ERA. He's 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA in his last four outings after holding St. Louis to a run over eight innings - striking out eight - in a 4-2 win Saturday.

"He's the best pitcher in the major leagues right now," catcher Miguel Montero, who's hitting .406 with five homers over his last eight games, told the Diamondbacks' official Web site. "He makes my job easy."

Haren is 3-0 with a 3.56 ERA in five starts against Pittsburgh (42-52), and now faces a team that just traded its third key hitter in two months.

The Pirates dealt outfielders Nate McLouth and Nyjer Morgan in June, and on Wednesday sent first baseman Adam LaRoche - a free agent at season's end - to Boston for a pair of prospects.

LaRoche was in a 5-for-46 slump but led the power-starved Pirates with 12 home runs. That made it all the more bizarre when Pittsburgh hit five homers Wednesday afternoon, including Brandon Moss' walk-off solo shot in the ninth of an 8-7 win.

"That's ironic - that's a good word," Moss said. "It feels good to have a game like this. ... We have a lot of young players, and the more at-bats that we get, the more experience we get, the better we'll be and the more consistent we'll be."

Ryan Doumit had two homers while Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones each hit one as Pittsburgh rallied for its fourth win in six games.

The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, coughed up a lead en route to their fifth loss in seven games Wednesday, 4-3 at Colorado.

Starter Jon Garland took his team to task after his ninth quality start where he failed to earn a victory.

"To me, we're going out there and playing like a last-place team," Garland said. "I don't see any fight in them. I don't see anyone that wants it."

Arizona's .247 batting average is the NL's worst.

The Diamondbacks will hope for better luck against Charlie Morton (2-2, 3.21), but the right-hander should be confident after winning his last outing. Morton limited San Francisco to three hits over seven innings - striking out six - in a 2-0 win Saturday.

Morton, acquired from Atlanta in the McLouth trade, was with the Braves when he won his only previous start against Arizona as he pitched seven scoreless innings at Chase Field in a 6-4 win Aug. 7.