Houston @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 25, 2010 ) Houston 4, Pittsburgh 6
The Pittsburgh Pirates play their final home game of the season at PNC Park today and are looking to close out a successful homestand with a win over the Houston Astros.
The Pirates (54-100) dropped the Astros 6-4 on Saturday to take the second game of the series, improving to 6-2 on the current homestand. Rookie Pedro Alvarez hit a three-run homer and Zach Duke threw six innings of three-run ball.
Pittsburgh is closing out its 18th consecutive losing season with some spunk. The Pirates average just 3.57 runs per game this season, but are putting up six per game since they returned to PNC Park following a seven-game road swing. Alvarez, who is batting only .237 this season, is 7-for-19 with a pair of home runs and 11 RBIs over the last five games.
The Pirates send Paul Maholm (8-15, 5.25 ERA) to the mound today. Maholm is looking to avoid setting a career high in losses and is coming off an impressive 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals the last time he took the ball.
Maholm gave up two runs on seven hits through seven innings of work in that one, striking out four and walking none to pick up his first win since Aug. 3. The lefty went 0-6 with a 7.88 ERA through eight starts during that rough patch.
Maholm has pitched well against the Astros this year, going 1-2 with a 1.99 ERA. He threw a complete-game shutout with only 103 pitches against Houston on July 18, allowing only three hits while striking out one. Maholm, who isn’t going to overpower anybody with only 95 strikeouts in 178 1/3 innings this season, will be up against another lefty today.
Houston’s J.A. Happ (6-2, 2.99 ERA) has settled in nicely with Houston (74-81) since coming over from the Philadelphia Phillies as a part of the Roy Oswalt deal.
Happ has taken three straight no-decisions, but is 3-0 over his last six with a 2.39 ERA. He didn’t allow a run through six innings while striking out six and walking three the last time he took the mound – an 8-4 loss to the Washington Nationals.
He’s 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA lifetime against Pittsburgh. Happ downed the Pirates 8-2 the last time he faced them back on Aug. 15, allowing two runs over six innings.
Houston has taken 11 of 14 games against the Pirates this season, with the three losses coming at PNC Park.