Tonight, the Pirates play the Diamondbacks in the 2nd game of the series.

Pitching Match-Up

Pirates
Zach Duke
(4-9) 5.27 ERA with 57 K's this season

D-Backs
Brandon Webb
(15-4) 3.04 ERA with 130 K's this season

Low-Down
Webb is a worthy candidate for MVP this year, and Duke has not had the year Pirates fans expected.

Key Factor
Tonight's key factor willbe the Pirates offense to strike first. If Brandon Webb goes 7 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs on us, then we have no chance.

Prediction
D-Backs- 8, Pirates- 2
I don't have much confidence in the Buccos tonight after the loss last night. 8-2 Diamondbacks.

-Mike Greenspire

Tonight, The Pirates play the Padres in the 2nd game of this series.

Pitching Match-Up

Pirates
Zach Duke
(4-7) 4.92 ERA with 49 K's this season

Padres
Cha Seung Baek
(0-1) 5.40 ERA with 15 K's this season

Low-Down
Zach Duke is a good pitcher, but has had some serious question marks surrounding his consistency this season. However, I don't see that becoming an dissue due to San Diego's weak batting order.

Key Factor
Tonight's key factor will be how long Duke spends time in the game. The longer he is on the mound, the longer the Padres will be kept from taking the lead. If Duke gives us a solid 6 innings, I'll be happy and comfortable putting Tyler Yates in for relief.

Prediction
Pirates-11, Padres- 3
The Pirates are on a hot streak of late, taking down the Astros and Padres to win 4 straight. I see the winning streak continuing tonight with a 5th straight win, 11-3 Buccos.

-Mike Greenspire

Tonight the Pirates play the Rockies in the 3rd game of this 4-game series from Denver.

Here is tonight's scheduled pitching match-up.

Pirates
Zach Duke
(4-6) 4.40 ERA, 44 K's this season

Rockies
Aaron Cook
(11-6) 3.57 ERA, 67 K's this season

Low-Down
Zach Duke is a good young pitcher, but has trouble against proven pitchers liek that of Aaron Cook. He needs to figure out the offense of Colorado quickly if he hopes to win, because by the 4th inning, this game could be blown wide open by the Rockies.

Key Factor
Tonight's key factor will be how well of a 1st and 2nd inning Duke pitches. If he can give up only 2 or 3 hits in the first two, and not allow any runs, than the Pirates have a chance to take control of the game.

Prediction
The Pirates are too sloppy in this seris for me to favor them tonight, so I think the Rockies win the game, 6-2. Although, since I'm going against my team in this one, they'll probably win. I still pick the Rockies.

-Mike Greenspire