Duke goes for win No. 9 against Fish

Baseball Betting Lines

07/04/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zach Duke goes after his ninth win of the season this evening when the Pittsburgh Pirates continue their three-game series with the Florida Marlins at Land Shark Stadium.

Duke has been one of the best left-handers in the league this season, but has lost two of his last three starts. Duke absorbed the loss on Monday against the Chicago Cubs, despite a decent effort, as he allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings to drop him to 8-6 on the season to go along with a 3.13 earned run average.

Pittsburgh, which has scored one run or less a major league-high 20 times, has managed just five total runs in Duke's six losses.

The 26-year-old hurler has struggled against the Marlins over the course of his career, going 0-2 with a 5.68 ERA in four starts.

Run support wasn't a problem for the Pirates in the opener of this set on Friday, as Brandon Moss and Ramon Vazquez hit early home runs, and Pittsburgh shut down Hanley Ramirez, on the way to a 7-4 win.

Charlie Morton (1-1) pitched six shutout innings to get the victory, as the Pirates snapped a two-game skid but defeated the Marlins for the fifth straight time.

"[Morton] made some pitches a couple of different times and we couldn't get any runs," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

Moss, Vazquez and Jack Wilson each had two RBI in the win.

Chris Volstad (5-8) was saddled with the loss after surrendering three hits and four runs over three innings. He's dropped five of his last six decisions.

John Baker smacked a two-run homer and had three RBI for the Marlins, who were coming off a three-game sweep of the Nationals, but fell a game behind the Phillies for first place in the tight NL East.

Ramirez came into the game having driven in at least one run in a franchise record 10 straight contests, but finished 0-for-4. The streak by Ramirez was the longest for a shortstop since Carlos Guillen had an 11-game surge for the 2007 Tigers. It was also the longest streak ever for a National League shortstop, since RBI became an official statistic in 1920.

Getting the call for the Fish this evening will be 24-year-old left-hander Andrew Miller, who is 2-4 with a 4.45 ERA. Miller's winless streak reached four starts on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays, as he was charged with the loss after surrendering five runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Miller lost to the Pirates back on April 20 in his only other appearance against them.

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