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Pirates look to rebound after heart-breking loss

Apr 25, 2009 - 6:50 AM By Brett Huston Stats Writer

Pittsburgh (9-7) at San Diego (10-6) 10:05 p.m. EDT

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- After a surprising start, the San Diego Padres appeared to be falling back to reality with three straight losses heading into a weekend series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Maybe all they needed was a trip back home.

After finishing off the Pirates in extra innings in the series opener, San Diego will look for its sixth straight win at Petco Park on Saturday night as the teams continue their three-game set.

The Padres lost 99 games last season and were widely expected to struggle again in 2009, but instead they won nine of their first 12 games and were tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers atop the NL West.

San Diego, though, dropped the final three contests of an eight-game road trip before heading home to take on the equally surprising Pirates, who were coming off a three-game sweep of red-hot Florida.

The Padres had won their final four games at Petco before hitting the road, and being back in San Diego helped get them back in the win column. Former Pirate Brian Giles, hitting just .159 coming into the game, singled home a run in the 11th inning to give the Padres a 4-3 victory.

"I think we all know Brian and what he means to our team," said San Diego manager Bud Black, whose club won its major league-best fifth one-run game. "For me, it's just a matter of time before you see a lot of those hits like you saw tonight."

Shawn Hill (1-0, 3.60 ERA) will try to lead the Padres to their sixth consecutive home victory, which they haven't done since winning seven straight from Sept. 14-19, 2007 - a streak they capped with a four-game sweep of the Pirates.

Picked up off waivers late in spring training, Hill has been steady in his first two starts with the Padres, going five innings and allowing two runs in each. He only gave up three hits Saturday at Philadelphia, but didn't figure in the decision in San Diego's 8-5 win.

Hill's lone start against Pittsburgh came when he was with the Montreal Expos in July 2004. He gave up seven runs in 1 1-3 innings of an 11-0 loss.

Shortstop Jack Wilson was the only current Pirate in the lineup that day, and Wilson's had a rough time at the plate since going 6-for-13 with five RBIs in his first three games of the season. He's 6-for-34 (.176) with two RBIs in his last 11.

Pittsburgh, which was without center fielder Nate McLouth on Friday due to a strained right oblique, has been carried by its pitching. The Pirates' 3.09 staff ERA leads the NL, and Zach Duke (2-1, 2.95) will try to lower that number Saturday.

Duke was fantastic in his first two starts, yielding just one run over 15 1-3 innings in a pair of wins. He wasn't nearly as sharp Sunday against Atlanta, however, giving up 12 hits and six runs in six innings of an 11-1 loss.

"The command wasn't there. My fastball wasn't sharp, and my breaking ball wasn't breaking," he said.

Duke is 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA in three starts against the Padres, but hasn't pitched in San Diego since September 2006.

The left-hander is 4-21 with a 5.31 ERA in 40 road starts since May 7, 2006, though two of those wins have come in his last four outings away from home.