Houston @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 15, 2010 ) Pittsburgh 2, Houston 8

The Houston Astros look to snap a three-game losing streak when they hook up with the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates Friday.

Houston dropped three games at Washington after taking the opener of the series, with a lack of production at the plate being the biggest culprit.

The Astros scored only nine runs over the three-game slide and are averaging just 3.80 runs per game this season, ranking 27th in the league.

Houston doesn’t have a lot of pop in its lineup with just 105 homers on the year, so the club needs to make the most of its scoring opportunities. The Astros left nine runners on base Thursday against Washington scoring just twice on 10 hits.

The good news is that Hunter Pence is back in the lineup after missing a few days with a hip flexor issue. Pence leads the club with 24 home runs and was 2-for-4 in Thursday’s game, driving in his 86th run of the season.

Houston (73-80) will look to Brett Myers (13-7, 2.76) to halt the slump. He has won five straight and has lasted at least six innings in all 31 of his starts this season, the longest such streak since Curt Schilling went 35 games for Arizona in 2002.

Myers is one win away from matching a career-high and owns the National League’s third best ERA after shutting out the Cincinnati Reds through seven innings in a 4-3 win the last time he took the bump.

He picked up a no-decision the last time he faced the Pirates in a 4-1 win, giving up just one run over seven innings while striking out seven.

The Pirates (53-99) had a season-best five-game winning streak stopped by the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, but they have been hot at PNC Park lately, winning 11 of their last 16 home games.

Pittsburgh has also managed at least four runs in six of its last eight games overall, which is a major accomplishment considering the club is averaging only 3.53 runs per game this season.

The Pirates may not need a lot from its offense the way Friday’s starter James McDonald has been throwing the ball.

McDonald (4-5, 4.09) had a streak of 20 straight scoreless innings snapped in his last outing, but still only gave up two runs over five innings. He has a 0.90 ERA over that stretch with 13 strikeouts.

McDonald is 4-1 with a 2.40 ERA in five starts at PNC Park since coming over in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers.