• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Pirates seek sixth consecutive win

May 11, 2008 - 1:38 PM Atlanta (18-17) at Pittsburgh (17-19) 1:35 pm EDT

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The Pittsburgh Pirates are riding high and they would like to continue that trend when the Atlanta Braves come calling in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday.

Tom Gorzelanny bounced back from a slow start to throw 7 1/3 strong innings and Ronny Paulino had three RBI as the Pirates extended their winning streak to five games with Saturday's 5-2 win over the Braves.

"We've been playing good baseball," Pirates manager John Russell said. "I think you have to attribute it to our starting pitching. They have been throwing the ball very well, and Gorzelanny did a great job."

Aiming to continue that trend will be Zach Duke (1-2, 4.60 ERA), who will look to repeat his last performance. The lefthander allowed three runs and eight hits over 7 1/3 innings for his first win of the season on Tuesday, a 12-6 victory over San Francisco.

In his first start this season, the 24-year-old Duke gave up three runs through 5 2/3 frames in a no-decision at Atlanta on April 3. He is 1-2 with a 3.38 ERA in four career starts vs. the Braves.

Atlanta will counter with rookie Jair Jurrjens (4-2, 2.84), who was outstanding in his last outing, holding San Diego to just one run and striking out eight in six innings for a 5-3 victory on Tuesday.

The Braves had won six straight games prior to the start of this series on Friday.