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Johnson looks for sixth straight as Diamondbacks try to sweep Pirates

Aug 6, 2008 - 7:16 AM Pittsburgh (51-61) at Arizona (58-54), 3:40 pm EDT

PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Randy Johnson takes the mound for the Arizona Diamondbacks as they look to complete a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.

Johnson (9-7, 4.35 ERA) can move within six wins of 300 for his career and currently trails Bobby Matthews, who has 297, for 24th on the all-time list.

The 44-year-old lefthander has won five straight starts and hasn't yielded an earned run in his last three outings, spanning over 20 innings. Johnson has issued two walks in his last five outings and has a 1.39 ERA in that span.

Prior to his winning streak, the Big Unit dropped seven straight decisions, making his pursuit of victory No. 300 seem more and more bleak.

Jeff Karstens (1-0, 0.00) will counter for Pittsburgh with hopes of building on his National League debut.

After being traded from the New York Yankees prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, Karstens tossed six scoreless innings against the Cubs, allowing five hits while striking out two.

The Pirates have been outscored, 16-8, in this series and were shut down by ace Brandon Webb on Tuesday, as he tossed a complete game while giving up one run and nine hits.

Freddy Sanchez, Doug Mientkiewicz and Nate McLouth were a combined 6-for-12, but failed to do major damage to Webb and the Diamondbacks, who won for the sixth time in eight games.