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Pirates send Burnett to hill against Padres

May 28, 2015 - 1:05 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - A.J. Burnett is baseball's leader in earned run average and will put that distinction to the test when the Pittsburgh Pirates open a four-game series Thursday against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

Burnett is 4-1 with a 1.37 ERA in nine starts and has allowed more than one earned run just twice this season. Burnett is riding a personal four-game winning streak and is coming off Saturday's 8-2 win over the New York Mets in which he delivered seven innings of one-run ball and 10 strikeouts.

The veteran right-hander has lasted seven innings in each of his past four starts and is 2-0 in five road outings. Burnett has struggled in 11 career starts against the Padres, going 3-7 with a 4.23 ERA over 72 1/3 innings.

Pittsburgh starters have been the reason for this season-high six-game winning streak and Burnett contributed to the cause in his last outing. The club went 6-2 on its homestand and will play the next 10 games on the road against the Padres, San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves.

The Pirates completed a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins with Wednesday's 5-2 victory, as Gerrit Cole picked up his second triumph on this win streak and lasted seven innings, giving up two runs with seven strikeouts and no walks.

"We're heading in the right direction," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "For a way too long we were a good team playing mediocre baseball."

Pittsburgh starters are 6-0 in the last six games and the team is second overall in ERA at 3.01.

Jung-Ho Kang drove in two runs, while Josh Harrison, Pedro Alvarez and Starling Marte finished with an RBI apiece for the Pirates, who have won six straight games for the first time since winning nine from June 20-30, 2013.

The Padres have won three of their last four games and went 3-3 on a recent road trip against the Los Angeles Dodgers and LA Angels. They took the last two meetings of a three-game set with Anaheim and posted a 5-4 win Wednesday.

Andrew Cashner pitched well for his second win of the season (2-7) and allowed three runs in seven innings of work. He struck out six and walked one.

"I got my slider back to where I like it," said Cashner. "I thought I could have made better pitches but my defense picked me up."

Will Middlebrooks finished 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.

San Diego will also host the New York Mets for three games on this stay.

Ian Kennedy hopes to stop a personal losing streak when he takes the mound for the Padres Thursday. Kennedy has lost his last three starts and pitched well in a 2-0 defeat at Los Angeles on Saturday, giving up both runs in six innings with six strikeouts and no walks.

Kennedy has allowed 13 runs during his slide and is 2-4 with a 6.11 earned run average in seven starts. The right-hander and former All-Star has made eight career starts against the Pirates and is 3-3 with a 3.66 ERA.

San Diego and Pittsburgh split six games last season and will meet again in the Steel City for three games in July.