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Pirates-Reds Preview

Sep 10, 2010 - 1:38 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Pittsburgh (47-92) at Cincinnati (79-60), 7:10 p.m. EDT

Returning home to face the Pittsburgh Pirates might be what the Cincinnati Reds need to help recover from a terrible road trip.

The NL Central-leading Reds look to avoid a season-high sixth straight loss when they open a weekend series with the Pirates on Friday night.

Though Cincinnati (79-61) has a sizable lead in the Central, it's not playing like a first-place club. The Reds concluded a 1-6 road trip to St. Louis and Colorado with five straight defeats, including a 6-5 loss to the Rockies on Thursday.

Cincinnati has not dropped six in a row since an eight-game skid July 28-Aug. 4, 2009.

"Nothing lasts forever. We'll come back (Friday)," manager Dusty Baker told the Reds' official website.

The Reds, however, have won four in a row and eight of nine at Great American Ballpark. They have also won 11 of 14 home meetings with the Pirates (47-92), who have the majors' worst road mark at 14-53.

Pittsburgh has dropped 15 of 16 away from home overall, but will try to carry over some positive momentum after taking two of three at home from wild-card leader Atlanta.

"(We) know how important these games are," manager John Russell told the Pirates' official website. "I think it's a very solid building block for our guys. We're going to continue to grow and get better because of it."

Cincinnati holds an 8-5 overall edge in the season series and has averaged 5.0 runs per game - significantly better than its 3.6 mark during the just-completed road trip.

Scott Rolen went 4 for 20 without an RBI on the trip but is a lifetime .320 hitter versus the Pirates. Fellow All-Star corner infielder Joey Votto went 0 for 4 on Thursday but is batting .355 against Pittsburgh this season.

Homer Bailey (3-3, 5.00 ERA) looks to remain perfect against the Pirates when he takes the ball for the series opener.

The right-hander is 5-0 with a 1.57 ERA versus Pittsburgh, compared with his 10-16 record and 5.85 ERA against all other opponents. He struck out six while tossing a four-hitter in a 5-0 win at Pittsburgh on May 12 - his first career complete game.

Bailey has allowed four runs over six innings in each of his last two starts, including a 4-2 loss at St. Louis on Sunday.

"He's still learning," Baker said. "It's part of the learning process."

Pittsburgh counters with Paul Maholm (7-14, 5.43), who has enjoyed success versus Cincinnati in his career but has not won since Aug. 3.

The left-hander allowed seven runs in 4 1-3 innings of a 9-2 loss to Washington on Saturday, falling to 0-5 with a 9.20 ERA in his last six starts.

"It's about as frustrating as you can get right now," Maholm said. "I expect a lot out of myself, and other people expect a lot. I haven't pitched the way I'm supposed to, so I'll take this as a learning experience. It definitely can't get any worse."

Maholm is 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA in his last 10 starts versus Cincinnati, including 2-0 with a 2.75 ERA in three this season.

Pittsburgh rookie Pedro Alvarez is batting .381 in his last six games.