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May 12, 2010 - 3:51 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Cincinnati (17-15) at Pittsburgh (14-18), 12:35 p.m. EDT

Cincinnati's latest trip to Pittsburgh has gone much better than its first of 2010.

The Reds try to complete a sweep of the Pirates and match a season high with a fifth straight victory Wednesday afternoon.

After suffering a three-game sweep at Pittsburgh from April 16-18, Cincinnati (18-15) has outscored the Pirates 11-1 to win the first two of this three-game set at PNC Park.

The Reds, who have won four in a row overall and 11 of 15, swept Pittsburgh twice in 2009, once at each team's home park.

"We had a tough trip the last time in, but this team is real good at erasing stuff like that," outfielder Jonny Gomes told the Reds' official website. "It's a division foe, so we need these wins."

Cincinnati, which won five in a row April 25-30, has a 1.50 team ERA during its current winning streak.

After Bronson Arroyo threw seven solid innings in a 2-1 win Monday, Johnny Cueto tossed a complete-game, one-hitter in Tuesday's 9-0 win over Pittsburgh (14-19). Now, Cincinnati hopes struggling starter Homer Bailey (0-2, 7.24 ERA) can continue his success against the Pirates and bounce back from his worst loss of the season.

The right-hander is 4-0 with a 2.13 ERA against the Pirates, compared with a 8-15 record and 6.15 ERA versus all other opponents in his career.

Bailey allowed seven runs and five walks in four innings of a 14-7 home defeat to Chicago on Friday.

"I can't find the putaway pitch right now," said Bailey, who went 8-5 - with half the wins coming against the Pirates - last season in a career-high 20 major-league starts. "I'll go back to work and see if we can figure it out. I'm sure it's something we can work out pretty quick."

Shortstop Ronny Cedeno had Pittsburgh's only hit Tuesday after homering Monday. That modest output makes up one-third of the Pirates' six total hits in the series.

"I don't want to be selfish, but at least we put one hit up there," said Cedeno, who's 1 for 9 against Bailey.

Jay Bruce and rookie Chris Heisey each had three hits while combining for five RBIs on Tuesday for the Reds, who are batting .305 and have scored 30 runs during their winning streak.

Bruce is 6 for 13 in his last three games against the Pirates, but 1 for 8 lifetime against Wednesday's scheduled starter Zach Duke (2-3, 5.13).

After winning two of his first three starts, Duke is 0-3 with a 7.59 ERA in his last four outings. His three runs allowed over 6 1-3 innings were all unearned Friday, when he didn't factor in the decision of a 4-3 home loss to St. Louis.

The left-hander gave up one run in seven innings of a 4-3 win over the Reds on April 16, improving to 3-6 with a 4.04 ERA in 11 career starts against Cincinnati.