Pittsburgh Pirates Vs Chicago Cubs MLB Live Streaming Online Radio COmmentary Early Game Review Espn 360 Gamecast 5/29, 2011. Wrigley Field continues to be the 'Friendly Confines' for the Pittsburgh Pirates. That's also been the case for Jeff Karstens in the past.
Karstens will try to continue his success against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday and help the Pirates complete their first three-game sweep at Wrigley in more than 11 years.
The Pirates are seeking to win five straight on the road for the first time since May 13-26, 2004. They last swept three games at Wrigley Field from May 5-7, 2000.
Pittsburgh appears to have the right guy on the mound Sunday in Karstens (3-3, 3.57 ERA), who owns four of his 15 career wins at Wrigley. He does not have more than one victory at any other opposing ballpark.
Karstens is 3-1 with a 2.35 ERA in four starts at Wrigley and was credited with another victory there April 3 with a hitless inning of relief.
Despite that success by the right-hander, the Cubs (22-28) can take some solace in having some hitters who have enjoyed success against him. Alfonso Soriano is 7 for 14 with two homers against Karstens, Koyie Hill is 6 for 11 and Blake DeWitt is 6 for 9.
Karstens will make his first start since he beat Detroit on May 20, allowing one run over six innings in a 10-1 win. He gave up one run in two innings of relief Wednesday in a 4-2, 12-inning loss to Atlanta.
The Pirates again look to take advantage of Ryan Dempster (3-4, 6.29), who is 0-4 with a 7.23 ERA in his last four starts against them. Andrew McCutchen is 4 for 8 with five RBIs and Neil Walker 3 for 6 with four RBIs in that span against him.
Dempster is seeking his third straight win at Wrigley, where he yielded one run over seven innings in Tuesday's 11-1 victory over the New York Mets.
McCutchen is 4 for 9 in the series after he was one of a season-high four Pirates to homer Saturday. Ronny Cedeno, Lyle Overbay and Chris Snyder also went deep.
"Our guys have been looking forward to having a game like this for a while," manager Clint Hurdle told the Pirates' official website. "The success they had today is something they can hold on to. They know they're capable of doing some things that we haven't done with much consistency so far."
The Pirates are 15-12 on the road this year after going a major league-worst 17-64 in 2010.
The Cubs produced 24 runs and 34 hits in taking two of three from the Mets this week before managing two runs and eight hits in this series.
"The guys are still confident we can turn this around," second baseman Darwin Barney said. "We're not pulling that flag yet."
Karstens will try to continue his success against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday and help the Pirates complete their first three-game sweep at Wrigley in more than 11 years.
2:20 PM ET, May 29, 2011
Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Match Roster Lineups and Score after MatchPittsburgh (24-26) has received 16 1/3 scoreless innings from its starters to capture the first two games of this series, improving to 11-5 in its last 16 at Wrigley and 16-6 in its last 22 against the Cubs. Kevin Correia logged 7 1/3 innings in a 4-2 victory Friday before Paul Maholm pitched a three-hitter in Saturday's 10-0 rout.
NO. Pittsburgh Chicago
1. J. Tabata, LF K. Fukudome, RF
2. G. Jones, RF D. Barney, 2B
3. A. McCutchen, CF S. Castro, SS
4. N. Walker, 2B A. Ramirez, 3B
5. L. Overbay, 1B C. Pena, 1B
6. R. Doumit, C A. Soriano, LF
7. B. Wood, 3B T. Campana, CF
8. R. Cedeno, SS K. Hill, C
9. J. Karstens, P R. Dempster, P
The Pirates are seeking to win five straight on the road for the first time since May 13-26, 2004. They last swept three games at Wrigley Field from May 5-7, 2000.
Pittsburgh appears to have the right guy on the mound Sunday in Karstens (3-3, 3.57 ERA), who owns four of his 15 career wins at Wrigley. He does not have more than one victory at any other opposing ballpark.
Karstens is 3-1 with a 2.35 ERA in four starts at Wrigley and was credited with another victory there April 3 with a hitless inning of relief.
Despite that success by the right-hander, the Cubs (22-28) can take some solace in having some hitters who have enjoyed success against him. Alfonso Soriano is 7 for 14 with two homers against Karstens, Koyie Hill is 6 for 11 and Blake DeWitt is 6 for 9.
Karstens will make his first start since he beat Detroit on May 20, allowing one run over six innings in a 10-1 win. He gave up one run in two innings of relief Wednesday in a 4-2, 12-inning loss to Atlanta.
The Pirates again look to take advantage of Ryan Dempster (3-4, 6.29), who is 0-4 with a 7.23 ERA in his last four starts against them. Andrew McCutchen is 4 for 8 with five RBIs and Neil Walker 3 for 6 with four RBIs in that span against him.
Dempster is seeking his third straight win at Wrigley, where he yielded one run over seven innings in Tuesday's 11-1 victory over the New York Mets.
McCutchen is 4 for 9 in the series after he was one of a season-high four Pirates to homer Saturday. Ronny Cedeno, Lyle Overbay and Chris Snyder also went deep.
"Our guys have been looking forward to having a game like this for a while," manager Clint Hurdle told the Pirates' official website. "The success they had today is something they can hold on to. They know they're capable of doing some things that we haven't done with much consistency so far."
The Pirates are 15-12 on the road this year after going a major league-worst 17-64 in 2010.
The Cubs produced 24 runs and 34 hits in taking two of three from the Mets this week before managing two runs and eight hits in this series.
"The guys are still confident we can turn this around," second baseman Darwin Barney said. "We're not pulling that flag yet."
