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Pirates-Reds Preview

May 25, 2010 - 4:18 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Pittsburgh (19-25) at Cincinnati (25-19), 7:10 p.m. EDT

The Cincinnati Reds are closely monitoring Mike Leake's pitch count, not wanting a player who skipped the minor leagues to carry too much of a workload in his first professional season.

Eight starts in, Leake is hardly showing any signs that he's slowing down.

After the bullpen blew a six-run lead in his last start, Leake tries again to improve to 5-0 on Tuesday night as the Reds continue their four-game set against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.

Leake (4-0, 2.91 ERA) became the first major leaguer in a decade to skip the minors entirely when he made his Cincinnati debut April 11, and the accelerated timeline couldn't be working out better for the Reds (26-19).

The right-hander from Arizona State has delivered seven quality starts in eight outings, and he's cut down on the one issue that plagued him in his first two games - walks. Leake walked seven in his major league debut against the Cubs, and he issued five free passes - along with three runs over seven innings - in a 4-3 loss at Pittsburgh (19-26) five days later.

Since then, Leake has only walked nine in six starts while Cincinnati has kept his pitch count around 100. He's held opponents to a .193 average over his last five outings, and increased his own average to .353 after getting two hits Thursday at Atlanta.

"I've had success throughout my years that I expect success out of myself," Leake told the Reds' official website. "I don't expect it to be easy. I expect to get over little bumps in the road. I expect to find a way to get through anything."

Leake, trying to become the first Cincinnati rookie since Santo Alcala in 1976 to start 5-0, gave up three runs - one earned - over six innings against the Braves. He left with a 9-3 lead that Cincinnati held until the ninth, when the bullpen surrendered seven runs in a 10-9 loss.

The Reds bounced back to win two of three in Cleveland over the weekend before hosting the Pirates on Monday. After outscoring Pittsburgh 16-1 in a three-game sweep at PNC Park last month, Cincinnati used a five-run fourth inning to win 7-5 and pull back into a tie with St. Louis for the NL Central lead.

The Pirates hope to bounce back behind Paul Maholm (3-4, 4.50). The left-hander was given a 3-0 first-inning lead Thursday against Milwaukee, but he allowed four runs over seven innings and lost 4-3.

"I came out and I felt great," Maholm told the team's official website. "I think it was about 40 minutes between the first and second inning and I lost my rhythm for a couple innings and then got it back later.

Tuesday's matchup might benefit Maholm, who is 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA in his last eight starts versus the Reds. He beat them April 18, giving up two runs and four hits in 6 2-3 innings of a 5-3 win.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto is 1 for 13 against Maholm, but second baseman Brandon Phillips has hit .378 (14 for 37) with four homers against him.

It's unclear how the Pirates' infield will look. Third baseman Andy LaRoche missed his third straight start Monday with a stiff back, and first baseman Steve Pearce left in the second inning with a sprained ankle.