San Diego @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 17, 2013 ) San Diego 5, Pittsburgh 2

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been jockeying with St. Louis for first place in the National League Central for months, but they have to be aware of another division rival in the race for the top wild card. First, Pittsburgh has to concern itself with a major nemesis when it hosts the San Diego Padres in the third contest of their four-game series on Wednesday. The Pirates dropped the first two contests to fall one game behind the Cardinals and have their wild-card lead over Cincinnati drop to 1 1/2.

San Diego's dominance in Pittsburgh defies explanation - the Padres have won 30-of-40 meetings since PNC Park was built in 2001. Rookie Jedd Gyorko, playing with hundreds of friends from his hometown of Morgantown, W.Va., in attendance, did the bulk of the damage in Tuesday's 5-2 win with three hits - including a three-run homer - for the Padres, who have the third-most road losses in the NL despite taking the last two games. Chase Headley has hit in five straight contests for San Diego.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FSN (San Diego), ROOT (Pittsburgh)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres RH Tyson Ross (3-8, 3.29 ERA) vs. Pirates RH Charlie Morton (7-4, 3.54)

Ross could not get out of the first inning last time out at Philadelphia, getting blasted for six runs to push his ERA up by half a run. The defeat extended his winless drought to six outings despite surrendering fewer than two runs in three of them. He had a shaky start at home against the Pirates on Aug. 20, giving up five runs - four earned - on six hits in an 8-1 defeat.

Morton did not factor in the decision in his last start against the Chicago Cubs after giving up three runs on four hits. He rebounded from a shellacking versus St. Louis in his previous outing but cost himself a chance at a win by allowing his first homer in 10 turns. Morton has won both of his career starts against the Padres, yielding a pair of runs over 12 1/3 innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Pirates CF Andrew McCutchen had two hits Tuesday and is batting .412 (21-for-51) in September.

2. Padres SS Ronny Cedeno, who played for Pittsburgh in 2010-11, is 5-for-8 in the series.

3. Pirates LF Starling Marte had one hit in three at-bats in his first start since Aug. 18 due to a hand injury.

PREDICTION: Pirates 5, Padres 3