Pittsburgh hasn’t had much success this season, except for when it plays against Houston. The struggling Pirates shoot for their seventh straight win versus the Astros this year in the opener of a three-game series at PNC Park.
The Pirates got their season off to a promising start when they swept the Astros in Houston from April 2-4 to open the season. The club then hosted Houston from April 24-26 and took all three games of that set as well.
It was a quick turnaround for a Pirates team that lost 13 of the 16 games they played against the Astros last season. That included seven losses in 10 home games in 2006.
While the Pirates will be trying to extend a winning streak against the Astros, they will also be attempting to halt a six-game losing streak on the season. The club comes into this series having been swept in three games at Atlanta and then in three games at home against Colorado.
Against the Rockies on Wednesday, Adam LaRoche and Freddy Sanchez both homered in a 5-3 setback. Ian Snell (7-7) was tagged for five runs on five hits with six strikeouts and a walk in six innings.
Tom Gorzelanny will shoot for his fourth straight winning decision with tonight’s start for Pittsburgh. The left-hander is 3-0 over his last five outings and received a no-decision on Saturday at Atlanta. On that day, Gorzelanny allowed four runs on six hits with seven strikeouts over six innings of work.
The 25-year-old is 9-4 on the year with a solid 3.24 earned run average.
Gorzelanny is just 1-3 in four career starts against the Astros while pitching to a 4.84 ERA against them. His lone victory versus Houston came this season in the left-hander’s first start of the year on April 4.
Houston will send Roy Oswalt to the hill tonight. Oswalt is coming off a horrid outing that saw him allow a career-high eight earned runs (nine total) on 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings in a loss to the Cubs on July 14. The setback dropped the right-hander to 8-6 on the season with a 3.91 ERA.
The All-Star then made a relief appearance on July 17, recording the final out of the seventh inning of his club’s 4-2 win over the Nationals.
The 29-year-old is 10-5 with a 2.67 ERA in 20 games (19 starts) lifetime against Pittsburgh. That includes a no-decision against the club on April 2 of this season.
Houston has lost five of its last six games and sits dead last in the NL Central. However, the club is only a half-game back of Pittsburgh for fifth place in the standings.
The Astros just lost two of three to Washington, including a 7-6 setback on Wednesday that saw Houston plate four runs in the seventh inning to get within one, only to fall short.
Mike Lamb and Luke Scott each homered and scored twice in the setback, while Jason Jennings (1-6) was tagged for seven runs on eight hits through five innings.
The loss dropped Houston to 1-5 on its current nine-game road swing.
