Pittsburgh @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 3, 2014 ) Pittsburgh 4, San Diego 1

The Pittsburgh Pirates have dominated the first two games of the series and look to complete a three-game road sweep of the San Diego Padres on Wednesday. Pittsburgh racked up 16 hits for a 10-3 win in the opener and used two-run homers from Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez to record a 4-1 victory on Tuesday. The Pirates have won 10 of their past 14 games while the Padres have dropped 10 of their last 15 to fall a season-worst seven games below .500.

San Diego had just four hits in Tuesday’s loss – three came in succession for its lone run – and has tallied just five runs while losing its last three games. The overwhelming bright spot in the series for the Padres was when 37-year-old southpaw Jason Lane – a former major-league outfielder making his big-league pitching debut – retired all 10 batters he faced in Tuesday’s game. Pittsburgh is 6-3 as it wraps up a 10-game road trip, and the Pirates are just two games below .500 after enduring a slow start.

TV: 6:40 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), FSN San Diego

PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates LH Felix Liriano (1-5, 4.62 ERA) vs. Padres RH Ian Kennedy (4-6, 3.42)

Liriano won a career-high 16 games last season but failed to win in his first 11 starts this year until beating the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. He struck out eight in 5 2/3 scoreless innings while giving up five hits and two walks. Liriano is 1-0 with 1.93 ERA in two career starts against the Padres.

Kennedy has won back-to-back starts while allowing just two runs and six hits over 12 innings. The solid efforts follow a stretch in which he went 0-3 in a four-start span and gave up 13 runs and 32 hits in 24 2/3 innings. Kennedy is 2-2 with a 4.15 ERA in six career outings against Pittsburgh.

WALK-OFFS

1. Pittsburgh SS Jordy Mercer is 6-for-9 in the series and 8-for-13 over the last three games.

2. San Diego 3B Chase Headley had a single in Tuesday’s game but is just 5-for-33 with 12 strikeouts over the last nine contests.

3. Pirates OF Starling Marte struck out as a pinch hitter Tuesday and is 1-for-23 over the last seven games.

PREDICTION: Pirates 7, Padres 4