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First-place Pirates, Reds continue series at PNC Park

Jul 19, 2011 - 2:57 PM (Sports Network) - It was fitting that lightning loomed over PNC Park on Monday night given that the Pirates continue to shock the rest of the National League Central.

Back in first place after taking the opener of this three-game series, Pittsburgh goes after a sixth straight victory over the struggling Cincinnati Reds this evening.

In a game that featured a pair of rain delays, Charlie Morton combined with three other relievers last night to lead the Pirates to a 2-0 victory over the Reds. That win pushed Pittsburgh a half-game ahead of both Milwaukee and St. Louis for the top spot in the NL Central.

After the game got started late due to rain, Morton faced a bases-loaded situation in the opening inning with Cincinnati's Miguel Cairo at the plate. However, the game went into a delay during the at-bat, lasting one hour and 23 minutes, and Morton got Cairo to hit into a force out when play resumed.

"[Morton] played catch a couple of times in between," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "I think if we would have gotten pushed much later we would have had to go another way. It's a very resilient effort by Charlie to throw 30- plus pitches, come out and then sit for an hour and 20 minutes, go out and fire off 50 more. A well-pitched, gutsy effort by him."

Andrew McCutchen and Matt Diaz knocked in runs in the fourth inning for Pittsburgh, which won for the fourth time in five games and moved a season- high six games above .500 (50-44). Neil Walker extended his hitting streak to 12 straight games.

Dontrelle Willis (0-1), in his second major league start of the season, gave up five hits over 4 2/3 innings for the Reds, who have lost six of seven to the Pirates this season and failed to win consecutive games for the first time since a three-game sweep of the Dodgers on June 13-15.

Cincinnati fell four games back of first place in the division.

"We have to do our job. We have to do something to spark this team and get something going," Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips said.

Right-hander James McDonald gets his first start for the Pirates since July 8, when he posted his fourth straight no-decision since consecutive wins in mid- June.

McDonald faced the Cubs last time out and yielded three runs over 5 2/3 innings of his club's 7-4 victory, giving him a 5-4 mark and 4.42 ERA in 18 starts this season. The 26-year-old has performed well at PNC Park over that time, going 2-1 with a 3.18 ERA in nine games.

McDonald will face the Reds for the third time this season, having split his first two outings against them in Cincinnati while allowing seven earned runs over 11 innings. However, just one of those runs came in his most recent outing in this series, a 6 2/3-inning victory on May 19.

Mike Leake struggled in his final two starts before the break and will try to right the ship this evening.

The Reds right-hander gave up four runs over six innings versus Cleveland on July 3, but still earned a 7-5 victory. Leake wasn't as lucky five days later in Milwaukee, yielding five runs on seven hits and two homers in just 5 1/3 innings. He did get a no-decision and is 8-4 with a 4.28 ERA in 18 games this year.

The 23-year-old Leake is 5-2 with a 3.39 ERA in nine starts since a brief demotion to Triple-A in May.

Leake beat the Pirates on April 16 after allowing two runs on four hits and four walks over six innings, improving to 1-1 with a 2.13 ERA in four career starts against the NL Central rivals.