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New-look Pirates take on Padres in third game of series

Jul 26, 2008 - 10:13 AM San Diego (39-65) at Pittsburgh (48-55), 7:05 pm EDT

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- After undergoing some changes to the roster, the Pittsburgh Pirates would like to see their amount of wins change as well.

The Pirates reportedly dealt outfielder Xavier Nady and lefthander Damaso Marte to the New York Yankees on Friday before falling to the San Diego Padres.

With a new-look lineup, the Pirates hope to get back on the winning track on Saturday at PNC Park.

John Van Benschoten (1-2, 8.27 ERA) will take the mound for Pittsburgh, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end. The 28-year-old righthander has made four starts, but pitched at least five innings once. He faced the Houston Astros in his last start and allowed three runs and six hits in five starts - his best outing of the season.

San Diego counters with Josh Banks (3-4, 3.51), who hasn't won since May 31, when he threw a complete game and allowed one earned run against the San Francisco Giants.

Banks has yet to allow more than four runs in a start, but has been a victim of poor run support.

For San Diego, Adrian Gonzalez homered on Friday for the first time since July 5. He still is among the league leaders in homers (23) and RBI (78).

So far this series, Kevin Koumanoff is 4-for-8 with a run and an RBI. He is also in the middle of a hot streak, collecting hits in nine of his last 10 games.