• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Reds, Pirates jockey for position in the Steel City

Jun 19, 2013 - 6:14 PM (Sports Network) - Right-hander Bronson Arroyo tries to even his career record against the team that drafted him when the Cincinnati Reds host the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third test of a four-game series between National League Central Division rivals at Great American Ball Park.

A 36-year-old native of Key West, Fla., Arroyo was a third-round selection of the Pirates in 1995 and reached the majors in 2000, when he made 12 starts in 20 outings with a 2-6 record and 6.40 earned run average.

He remained with the Pirates and made 17 starts in 33 appearances over the next two seasons, going 7-8 in 115 1/3 innings before he headed to the Boston Red Sox after Pittsburgh placed him on waivers.

Arroyo won 24 games in three seasons with the Red Sox and headed to Cincinnati in a trade for outfielder Wily Mo Pena on March 20, 2006.

He's won double-digit games in five of seven full seasons with the Reds and earned his sixth win of 2013 with eight scoreless innings against Colorado on June 3.

In two subsequent starts, both no-decisions, he's allowed 18 hits and five runs in 13 2/3 innings. In 15 lifetime meetings with the Pirates, he's 6-7 with a 3.88 ERA in 92 2/3 innings.

He's opposed by lefty Jeff Locke, who'll aim for his second victory of the season over the Reds.

The 25-year-old from New Hampshire allowed a single run on four hits in five innings of his second start of the season on April 13 against Cincinnati - winning a 3-1 decision.

He turned in a sixth start of 2013 in which he allowed no runs on June 14, when he gave up just two hits in seven innings of a 3-0 defeat of the Los Angeles Dodgers that lowered his ERA to 2.19.

The Pirates are 8-6 in games that Locke has pitched, but have won just three of his seven starts on the road.

On Tuesday, the Pirates handed Cincinnati's Mat Latos his first regular-season loss since Aug. 24 of last year. Pedro Alvarez knocked in two runs and Charlie Morton tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings as Pittsburgh beat the Reds, 4-0.

Latos (6-1), who was unbeaten in his previous 21 non-playoff starts, gave up three runs on three hits in the first inning. The right-hander settled down after that and ended with nine strikeouts and three walks over five full frames. He fell to 4-1 lifetime against Pittsburgh.

On the other hand, Morton (1-1) allowed just three hits in his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery.

Russell Martin and Starling Marte each had an RBI and run scored for the Pirates, who bounced back after taking a 4-1 loss in the series opener on Monday.

Cincinnati won two of three games with Pittsburgh earlier in June at PNC Park, while the Pirates swept a three-game series there earlier in the season.