Diamondbacks 6 - 0 Pirates
Final
  for this game

Diamondbacks-Pirates Preview

Aug 4, 2009 - 4:25 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Arizona (46-59) at Pittsburgh (45-59), 7:05 p.m. EDT

The Pittsburgh Pirates desperately need a strong start from Zach Duke. Stopping Arizona Diamondbacks slugger Mark Reynolds, however, may be too much to ask.

In the opener of a three-game series, the Diamondbacks hope Reynolds can continue his surge in a matchup with the Pirates and their top starter Tuesday night.

Pittsburgh (45-60) has dropped eight of 11, posting a 5.70 ERA.

The Pirates had a 7.91 ERA in losing three of four at Arizona from July 23-26. Duke (9-9, 3.26 ERA) earned Pittsburgh's only victory of that series, giving up three runs and 10 hits in 6 1-3 innings as the Pirates won 10-3 on July 24.

Duke improved to 2-2 with a 4.45 ERA in five starts against the Diamondbacks (47-59).

The left-hander is a win away from matching his career high, set in 2006, and he has certainly pitched well enough to have already reached that mark. He's gotten two runs or fewer to work with in five of his last eight starts.

In his last outing, Duke gave up six hits in seven scoreless innings against San Francisco on Wednesday night, but Pittsburgh lost 1-0 in 10 innings.

The Pirates lineup will need to be significantly more productive if Duke struggles against one of baseball's top right-handed power hitters.

Reynolds hit two home runs at spacious Citi Field to lead Arizona to a 6-5 win over the New York Mets on Monday night.

Arizona won three of four games against the Mets and Reynolds had four homers in the series despite sitting out Sunday's 5-2 victory. The third baseman has seven home runs and 10 RBIs in his last seven contests.

"There's not a park in the big leagues that can hold him when he gets a hold of one," Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said of Reynolds, who is second in the majors with 32 homers.

Matchups with the Pirates haven't given Reynolds much trouble. He's batting .347 with six homers and 15 RBIs in 19 games against them, including four homers and eight RBIs in 10 games at PNC Park. He is 4 for 7 with a homer and three doubles versus Duke.

Arizona could need another big game from Reynolds if Yusmeiro Petit (1-5, 6.75) has problems with the Pirates again. His only career start against them came July 24 and he was tagged for six runs and nine hits in 4 1-3 innings of a 10-3 loss.

Petit, however, bounced back Wednesday night to post his first win of the year, giving up four hits while matching a career high with eight strikeouts in six innings of a 4-0 victory over Philadelphia. It was his first win since Aug. 23, a span of 11 starts.

He'll face a Pirates team that scored a combined four runs during a five-game losing streak before averaging 5.7 in splitting a four-game set with Washington. Pittsburgh lost 8-4 in the series finale Monday, going 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position.

Pittsburgh center fielder Andrew McCutchen continues to impress, however. He homered in the first inning, two days after becoming the only rookie in Pirates history to hit three homers in a game.

McCutchen went 3 for 16 (.188) with five strikeouts and no homers in Pittsburgh's series with Arizona last month.






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