Pirates-Reds Preview

The Pittsburgh Pirates have endured another miserable season, but they're doing their best to end it in positive fashion.

The Pirates will attempt to win their third straight series and earn their seventh victory in nine games Saturday night against the Cincinnati Reds.

Pittsburgh (62-97) clinched its 17th consecutive losing season -- a record for major North American sports -- earlier this month. Instead of finishing out the string, the Pirates have started winning and avoided their first 100-loss campaign since 2001 with Friday's 3-1 victory at Great American Ball Park.

Pittsburgh also snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Reds as Andy LaRoche drove in two runs. Lastings Milledge also hit a solo homer and saved a run with his backhanded catch on Joey Votto's sinking liner to left field in the sixth inning.

"When all is said and done, (avoiding 100 losses) is important, but we wanted to finish over .500 this last week or so," Milledge said. "A hundred losses or not, we wanted to finish strong. We're all playing for a spot on the roster. No one has a (guaranteed) job on this team."

Like his team, Zach Duke (11-15, 3.94 ERA) is trying to end a rough season positively by avoiding a career high for losses when he takes the mound. The left-hander took a step toward a happy ending with his performance in Monday's 11-1 victory against visiting Los Angeles

Duke came within one out of his fourth complete game this season while allowing one run and four hits. He also struck out six and walked one.

The only spoiler was manager John Russell's odd decision to pull him from his first win since Aug. 22 -- against Cincinnati -- after 103 pitches.

"I wanted (the complete game) pretty bad," Duke said. "I'm not gonna lie."

To earn another victory, he'll likely need a better performance against the Reds, who have beaten him twice this month. Duke has a 6.00 ERA in those outings but is 2-1 with a 4.09 ERA in four career starts in Cincinnati.

Attempting to earn their 13th win in 18 games, the Reds (76-84) will go with Johnny Cueto (10-11, 4.35), who has won three consecutive starts over the Pirates.

Cueto is 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA in seven career starts against Pittsburgh, and looks to bounce back from his first loss in more than six weeks.

The right-hander suffered the defeat Sunday in Houston, allowing three runs over 7 1/3 innings of a 3-2 loss. Cueto had beaten Pittsburgh twice in his previous four starts while posting a 2.95 ERA.

"He's shown big-time maturity this season," manager Dusty Baker told the Reds' official Web site. "He started off great then hit a bit of a lull. We have to monitor how much we pitch him (next season)."

Cueto will not have Dick Pole to help him through this start as the Reds fired their pitching coach before Friday's game. The rest of Cincinnati's coaches are expected to return in their same roles next season.