Pittsburgh at Houston

Don't look now, but the hottest team in baseball is the Pirates. The Pirates have won four straight, and seven of eight, and are about to have their first winning month in years. It has been a total team effort. The Pirates are swinging the bats, getting great starting pitching, and the bullpen has finished it off. They have out-scored the opponent 28-7 in this four-game winning streak. Houston is in a skid, and has now lost six of seven, and three in a row. The last seven games they have been doubled up, getting out-scored 2-1, as they have allowed 44 and scored just 22. The Astros were a .500 team in mid-May, and were 5-3 when Wandy Rodriguez took the mound. They have since gone 37-53, and 6-11 in his starts. They have lost four of his last five, and the bullpen alone has yielded 18 runs in those four games. Not exactly a formula for winning. Tony Armas has struggled, but there is one area where he has struggled. He is 4-0 in his last four starts against teams under .500, and none of those teams have scored more than three runs in the game. Pirates make it five in a row.