Arizona @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 18, 2010 ) Arizona 6, Pittsburgh 9
The Pittsburgh Pirates will be looking to complete a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks when the two cellar-dwelling teams meet Sunday in their series finale.
The Pirates won the series opener 4-3 on Friday on a walk-off RBI single by Ronny Cedeno and took Saturday’s second game 9-6 as John Bowker and Andrew McCutchen both homered.
Pittsburgh, which had lost four straight entering the series, continues to at least be respectable at home. The Pirates have a dismal 15-59 road record but are now 35-39 at home.
Zach Duke gets the chore of trying to pitch the Pirates to the sweep and he will be looking to snap a two-start losing streak.
Duke (7-14, 5.78 ERA) has allowed four runs or more in each of his last four starts and allowed eight runs and nine hits in 3 1/3 innings of a 9-1 loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday. For his career, Duke is 3-3 in seven starts against the Diamondbacks. He last faced Arizona on April 10 and picked up a victory after allowing two runs and four hits in seven innings.
Arizona has lost 11 of 14 and is on its way to its second consecutive last-place finish in the National League West Division.
Pittsburgh is the only team saving Arizona from being the worst road team in the league. The Diamondbacks are 24-50 away from home and 16-26 against the NL Central this season.
The Diamondbacks turn to Daniel Hudson (7-2, 2.58) to try and avoid the sweep.
Acquired from the Chicago White Sox in the trade for right-hander Edwin Jackson on July 30, Hudson has found the National League to his liking, posting a 6-1 record with a 1.67 ERA in the NL. He was 1-1 with an ERA of 6.32 in three starts with the White Sox.
Facing the Pirates for the first time in his career, Hudson will try and build on his recent outings in which he has allowed only five runs in 35 innings over his last five starts, going 3-0 in that span.
In his most recent outing, Hudson allowed four hits and a walk with eight strikeouts in eight innings of a 3-1 victory over NL Central-leading Cincinnati on Tuesday.
The last time the Pirates swept a team was in a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs from May 4-6.