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Pirates-Reds Preview

Sep 2, 2009 - 4:15 AM By CHRIS ALTRUDA STATS Editor

Pittsburgh (53-77) at Cincinnati (58-73), 12:35 p.m. EDT

Quick starts by the Cincinnati Reds have doomed the Pittsburgh Pirates to lousy finishes. Riding that momentum, the Reds now go for a sweep of the four-game series Wednesday when it concludes at Great American Ball Park.

Cincinnati (59-73) has put some distance between itself and Pittsburgh (53-78) in the race to the bottom of the NL Central. After sweeping a doubleheader Monday, the Reds followed it up Tuesday with an 11-5 victory - only the third time they have scored 10 or more runs - as rookie catcher Craig Tatum had four RBIs to double his previous career total.

"I needed this," said Tatum, who is 4 for 11 in his last three games after going 4 for 43 in his first 17. "I've been working hard on staying through the ball. I'd been hitting a lot of popups - getting under the ball. If you hit the ball on the ground, you can make something happen."

In the nightcap of Monday's doubleheader, the Reds scored three first-inning runs while batting around. On Tuesday, Cincinnati plated four in the first, again sending nine batters to the plate as it won for the eighth time in 10 games.

Not only is the offense clicking, the Reds have the right pitcher going in Homer Bailey (4-4, 6.04 ERA) for their first four-game sweep of Pittsburgh since July 2-5, 1992. The right-hander is coming off the best performance of his career, striking out seven in eight scoreless innings to earn a win in Cincinnati's 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

"The fastball was there," Bailey said. "That's what has been working the last couple of games."

The right-hander beat the Pirates in his only outing against them, yielding one run and four hits in seven innings of a 4-1 victory Aug. 23.

Pittsburgh, which needs a victory to avoid a winless seven-game road trip, is four losses from its 17th consecutive losing season - a record among American professional sports franchises.

Zach Duke (10-12, 3.68) makes his second bid for a career-high 11th victory. The left-hander, who won 10 games in 2006, had his shortest outing of the year Friday against Milwaukee, surrendering a season-high seven runs and 11 hits in three innings as Pittsburgh lost 8-6.

Duke has split two starts against the Reds this year despite limiting them to three runs in 14 innings. He is 2-0 with a 3.94 ERA in three lifetime starts at Cincinnati, but is making his first appearance there in 2009.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto, who is mired in an 0-for-15 slump and sat out Tuesday's victory, is 6 for 9 with a double lifetime against Duke.