(Sports Network) - Former first-round draft pick Tim Stauffer can continue a successful late-season run tonight when the San Diego Padres head to Pittsburgh to begin a four-game series with the Pirates at PNC Park.

The fourth overall pick in the 2003 draft out of the University of Richmond, Stauffer has won three straight decisions and pitched well in a subsequent start since falling to 1-6 with a loss to St. Louis on August 20.

The 27-year-old initially bounced back with a road defeat of Atlanta on August 26, then beat Washington and the Los Angeles Dodgers in succession before a most recent start against Colorado yielded a no-decision after he'd allowed three hits and a run in six innings.

In those four starts, Stauffer has allowed 23 hits and eight runs in 24 1/3 innings, dropping his earned run average from 3.95 to an even more respectable 3.31.

A veteran of three major-league starts before the 12 he's made this season, the Portland, Maine native has never faced the Pirates.

He is 3-3 in six road starts in 2009.

For Pittsburgh, second-year righty Charlie Morton looks to end a slump.

The former third-round pick of the Atlanta Braves - in 2002 - was 2-2 on the season after blanking San Francisco on July 18, but has won just once in nine starts since.

He lost four straight decisions between July 28 and August 14, and, since a 5-2 defeat of Cincinnati on August 21, has gone 0-2 with a no-decision in three starts.

Morton, who made 16 appearances with the Braves last season and won four times, allowed six hits and three runs in six innings of his last start, dropping a 9-1 verdict at Houston on September 11.

He won his lone career start against the Padres last season, allowing four hits and a run in 5 1/3 innings.

In six home starts this season, he is 2-3 with a 3.06 ERA in 35 1/3 innings.

On Wednesday in San Diego, Everth Cabrera went 3-for-6 and knocked in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th as the Padres edged the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-5, to avoid a three-game sweep at Petco Park.

Yusmeiro Petit (3-10) started on the mound in the home half of the 10th for Arizona. Luis Durango got things started when he reached base on an infield single. Pinch-hitter David Eckstein flied out before Durango stole second and Cabrera stepped to the plate and stroked the game-winning hit to right.

Adrian Gonzalez hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth for the Padres, who finished a six-game homestand with a 3-3 record. Nick Hundley, Chase Headley, and Tony Gwynn Jr. each knocked in a run. Durango, who was making his first start in the majors, went 3-for-4 and scored twice for the victors.

Edward Mujica pitched a career-high 4 2/3 innings in the start for San Diego, allowing two runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Mujica also tossed a career-high 73 pitches. Heath Bell (6-4) pitched a scoreless top of the 10th to take the win.

In Los Angeles, Matt Kemp hit a two-run homer and Ronnie Belliard added a solo shot, as the National League West-leading Dodgers earned a 3-1 win over the Pirates to complete a three-game series sweep.

Jason Jaramillo had an RBI single, while Brandon Moss doubled and scored for Pittsburgh, which has now lost 17 of its last 19 tests and 16 of its past 17 games on the road.

Kevin Hart (4-7) was tagged with the loss despite surrendering only two runs on seven hits over six frames. He struck out five and walked one. The righty has struggled since coming over to the Bucs in a July 30 trade with the Chicago Cubs, having compiled a 1-6 mark.

Pittsburgh has won two of three from the Padres this season.







Copyright 2009 The Sports Network
All rights reserved

 Email To Friend