| SEASON | CAREER |
| W12 | 16 |
| L6 | 8 |
| G21 | 29 |
| IP126.2 | 166.0 |
| BB24 | 42 |
| SO95 | 120 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W5 | 61 |
| L12 | 62 |
| G20 | 188 |
| IP104.1 | 1055.0 |
| BB47 | 420 |
| SO100 | 1026 |
After concluding a successful road trip by salvaging a victory against the NL Central leaders, the Pittsburgh Pirates should be excited to return home.
The Arizona Diamondbacks , meanwhile, are hoping to get back on track after hitting a rut on a trek that started quite well.
Beginning a season-high 11-game homestand, the Pirates look to hand the Diamondbacks a third straight defeat Monday night.
Though Pittsburgh (61-46) went 6-4 on its latest trip, it returns home 4 1/2 games behind Central-leading Cincinnati after dropping two of three to the Reds over the weekend.
The Pirates earned some solace with a 6-2 win Sunday. Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker each homered while A.J. Burnett came within an out of his second straight complete game for the Pirates, who own the NL's second wild-card spot.
The Pirates now return home, where they are a major league-best 33-16 despite losing two of three to Chicago from July 23-25.
Monday marks the PNC Park debut of rookie outfielder Starling Marte , who homered on the first major league pitch he saw at Houston on July 26. Though Marte is batting .238 (10 for 42), he had two hits and two RBIs on Sunday.
Walker hit three homers and drove in 11 runs during the trip.
McCutchen, meanwhile, has batted .471 (8 for 17) with three home runs in his last five home games versus Arizona. He's hit .479 (35 for 73) with six homers and 21 RBIs in his last 20 at PNC overall.
Tied for the most losses in the majors, Pittsburgh's Erik Bedard (5-12, 4.83 ERA) takes the mound after he allowed nine runs in 4 1-3 innings of a 14-4 loss at Chicago on Monday.
"They hit good pitches, bad pitches and the unfortunate thing is they went over the fence," Bedard said. "I felt really good. I guess that's the positive out of it."The left-hander allowed two runs, three hits and walked four over five innings of a 5-1 loss at Arizona on April 16.
Bedard, however, has been much better at home. He has a 2.43 ERA in his last five starts at PNC, while he's compiled a 9.00 ERA in his last five on the road.
Arizona (55-53) won the first four on its current 10-game trip before dropping the last two in Philadelphia. The Diamondbacks blew an early three-run lead Sunday and lost 5-4 on Ryan Howard 's tiebreaking single in the ninth.
"It's frustrating but you just get over it and come back (Monday)," manager Kirk Gibson said.
The Diamondbacks have a good chance to turn things around Monday when they hand the ball to All-Star Wade Miley (12-6, 2.98), who allowed a solo homer and two other hits in eight innings of an 8-2 win at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.
Miley, who yielded one walk in that contest, has not issued more than two free passes in any of his last 19 starts.
"I just have the confidence throwing strikes," the left-hander said. "Me and (catcher Miguel Montero ) have a great relationship. He trusts me, I trust him and everything's been working."In his only previous appearance against the Pirates, Miley gave up two runs in five innings of an 8-5 home win Sept. 21.
Third baseman Chris Johnson , who hit a two-run homer Sunday, is 8 for 21 (.381) with three homers and 10 RBIs in six games since the Diamondbacks acquired him from Houston on July 29.
He went 5 for 11 with two homers in three games against the Pirates just before being traded, but has never faced Bedard.
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AVG
HRRUNSSBSOBBOBPSLGOPS
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Henry Blanco | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Willie Bloomquist | 10 | .200 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .200 | .400 | .200 |
| Geoff Blum | 4 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .000 |
| Aaron Hill | 22 | .318 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 | .375 | .830 | .455 |
| Jason Kubel | 7 | .143 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | .455 | .598 | .143 |
| John McDonald | 13 | .308 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | .357 | .742 | .385 |
| Miguel Montero | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Lyle Overbay | 13 | .231 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .286 | .594 | .308 |
| Ryan Roberts | 2 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 1.000 | .500 |
| Joe Saunders | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Justin Upton | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Chris Young | 5 | .200 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .200 | .400 | .200 |
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Josh Harrison | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Andrew McCutchen | 2 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 1.667 | 1.000 |
| Alex Presley | 3 | .333 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Neil Walker | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
 Arizona Diamondbacks |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| June 27, 2012 | Daniel Hudson | 15-Day DL | Right foream tightness |
| June 25, 2012 | John McDonald | 15-Day DL | Strained left oblique |
| June 25, 2012 | John McDonald | 15-Day DL | Strained left oblique |
| June 17, 2012 | Joe Saunders | 15-Day DL | Strained left shoulder |
| June 17, 2012 | Joe Saunders | 15-Day DL | Strained left shoulder |
| May 23, 2012 | Miguel Montero | Day-to-Day | Groin injury |
 Pittsburgh Pirates |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| July 18, 2012 | Juan Cruz | 15-Day DL | Right shoulder inflammation |
| July 05, 2012 | Alex Presley | 7-Day DL | Concussion |
| July 05, 2012 | Alex Presley | 7-Day DL | Concussion |
| June 30, 2012 | Andrew McCutchen | Day-to-Day | Left game - sprained left wrist |
| June 25, 2012 | Rod Barajas | Day-to-Day | Left game - bruised left knee |
| May 30, 2012 | Charlie Morton | 60-Day DL | Right elbow inflammation |
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Diamondbacks were flummoxed by Erik Bedard 's dominance on Monday night.
They didn't get much help from him afterward, either. To Bedard, it was simple.
Bedard allowed two hits over seven innings, and the Pittsburgh Pirates opened a season-long 11-game homestand with a 4-0 win over Arizona.
"That's just what you try to do - make some good pitches, get some outs and get the hitters back out there," Bedard said. "And that's what I tried to do."
Bedard did not walk a batter and faced just one over the minimum, striking out five. He retired 17 in a row until his final batter, Paul Goldschmidt , singled. Goldschmidt was thrown out at second base trying to stretch the hit by left fielder Starling Marte to end the seventh.
"I don't know; he just stayed off the barrel somehow," Diamondbacks centerfielder Chris Young said. "I thought we had a pretty good approach with him; we just couldn't get anything going."
Bedard (6-12) leads the majors in losses but lowered his home ERA to 2.38. Pittsburgh has won 23 of its past 29 games at PNC Park.
"He pitched exceptional tonight," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He pitched to four spots, he got the ball inside, he mixed in his breaking ball for strikes, he got it for chase, he worked with a very good tempo and rhythm tonight. You can't pitch much better than that."
Jason Grilli and Chad Qualls each worked a perfect inning to preserve the shutout, the Pirates' sixth this season and second in the past week.
Andrew McCutchen had two hits and scored two runs for the Pirates, who began the day 4 1/2 games behind Cincinnati in the National League Central.
"We broke out an old fashioned baseball game today: Pitching and defense," Hurdle said. "We had one run, and we added on a little bit late."
Rookie Wade Miley did not allow an earned run over six innings for Arizona, which has lost three in a row. Goldschmidt had both Diamondbacks hits.
Arizona entered the game having scored 106 runs since July 18, most in the majors in that span. But they were shut out for the second time in three days and committed three errors.
"They outplayed us, they out-executed us," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. "It hurts, but we've got to find a way to get back on a good run."
Golschmidt was the only Diamondbacks player to reach base. He doubled leading off the second and ended the seventh with a single before being thrown out at second.
Bedard, who had lost six of his previous seven decisions, struck out Miguel Montero with Goldschmidt at third and one out in the second.
McCutchen manufactured a run with his speed - and some shoddy Diamondbacks defense - in the fourth. He led off with a single to center, but he took off for second when Young bobbled the ball.
McCutchen might have been thrown out at second but Young's throw was not handled cleanly by shortstop Willie Bloomquist . The ball got away from Bloomquist, and McCutchen took off for third.
Two Arizona errors were charged on the play, and Gaby Sanchez followed with an RBI groundout.
"I started it off with no outs, and we were able to play some small ball and get that one run in," McCutchen said. "That's something that we really needed."
It remained 1-0 until the Pirates broke the game open with a three-run eighth by way of four consecutive singles and Rod Barajas ' sacrifice fly. Hits by Neil Walker and Travis Snider scored McCutchen and Sanchez.
Miley (12-7) allowed six hits and a walk and had two strikeouts.
"I felt all right," Miley said. "I kind of got into some trouble and had to battle a little bit... I wasn't executing, but we were able to keep it to one, so it wasn't bad."
NOTES: The Diamondbacks claimed C Wil Nieves off waivers from the Colorado Rockies and placed C Henry Blanco on the disabled list before the game. The 40-year-old Blanco has a sprained left thumb and was traveling back to Arizona for an MRI to see if he had a ligament tear. ... McCutchen is hitting .480 (37 for 77) in his past 21 home games and is hitting a majors-best .443 against left-handed pitchers. ... Pittsburgh improved to 11-4 at home against a left-handed starter. ... The second of three left-handers Arizona will start against Pittsburgh during this series, Patrick Corbin (3-4, 3.60) is scheduled to pitch Tuesday. RHP Jeff Karstens (4-2, 3.70) will attempt to win his fifth consecutive decision for the Pirates.
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Arizona Diamondbacks