Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 21, 2011 ) Cincinnati 5, Pittsburgh 4

THE STORY: After losing four straight games, the Cincinnati Reds have won back-to-back contests and still have an outside chance of finishing .500. While that may not seem like such a big accomplishment, consider Friday's opponent - the Pittsburgh Pirates - are 18 games below the break-even mark after being in playoff contention earlier in the season. The Reds’ wild righthander Edinson Volquez faces promising rookie Jeff Locke in the series opener at Pittsburgh, which has lost 10 of its last 13 games.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Cincinnati), ROOT (Pittsburgh)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Reds RH Edinson Volquez (5-6, 5.87 ERA) vs. Pirates LH Jeff Locke (0-2, 6.75).

Volquez continues to strike out batters at an impressive rate but his control has been awful. Volquez has struck out nearly a batter per inning in his 17 starts this season, but he also holds a horrific 5.9 BB/9 rate. He lost his last start against the Brewers 10-1, allowing five runs in 6 2/3 innings. Volquez is 1-0 in six appearances against the Pirates with a 3.44 ERA. Locke allowed three runs in three innings on Sept. 16 in a loss to the Dodgers. It was the second big-league start for Locke, who also surrendered three runs over five innings against the Marlins on Sept. 10 to lose his major-league debut. This could be his final start of the season but the Pirates figure that Locke will be a fixture in their rotation in the middle of next season. Locke was a second-round pick in the 2006 draft by the Braves.

ABOUT THE REDS (76-80): Brandon Phillips said he may have played his last home game with Cincinnati, but Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said they will re-sign the popular second baseman. Phillips goes into his option year off an excellent season. He is hitting .297 with 18 home runs and 81 RBIs and didn’t say he’d settle for a home-town discount. Catcher Ryan Hanigan had an epidural to solve a back issue, but the catcher will most likely miss the rest of the season.

ABOUT THE PIRATES (69-87): The Pirates have won seven of the last 10 meetings, but the Reds have won three of the past four. Outfielder Jose Tabata has a fracture of his wrist and will miss the rest of the season. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said that Locke, who posted a 2.22 ERA in Triple A this year, will be limited to around 75-80 pitches as he has never pitched this late in the season before. Catcher Ryan Doumit is batting .300 and has raised his average 21 points in the month. He is among the league leaders with a .403 average in September.

FINAL PITCH: Reds third baseman Scott Rolen will not play again this season. Rolen has not played since shoulder surgery in early August and hasn’t taken batting practice since Aug. 31, when he had to shut it down because of soreness. “I haven’t got to a spot where I can take batting practice,” he said.