Pirates Video

Karstens' strong start

McCutchen's solo shot

Dodgers Video

Kuroda's solid start

Kuroda's seven strikeouts

Los Angeles has won only three of its last 10 games, but two solid games against the Pirates have it riding a two-game winning streak. The Pirates, also winners in three out of the last 10 games, are hoping for a victory Sunday in the series finale.

The Pirates will look to Jeff Karstens to make their hopes a reality.

He could be exactly what Pittsburgh needs.

Karstens was called up last week and gave the Pirates a desperately needed quality start on Tuesday against the Brewers. He allowed just two hits and never labored much in the 101-pitch effort to earn another start.

After the game, Ryan Doumit said Karstens "was a breath of fresh air."

In that case, breathe easy, Ryan. It seems that Karstens is here to stay -- at least for the time being.

"My whole mindset was to go out there and be as efficient as possible and get through at least six," Karstens said. "I just took it as an opportunity to come here and pitch and see what happens."

The Dodgers, looking to bounce back from a slow start to the season, will counter with Hiroki Kuroda. The right-hander has been the most consistent starter in the Dodgers' rotation this year. In his latest effort, he delivered another quality outing of six innings with two runs allowed. He's 2-1 with a 2.74 ERA in four career starts against the Pirates and 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts against Pittsburgh at home.

The Dodgers want the series win. You can argue that the Boys in Blue need it. Los Angeles is 10-14 for the season and at the bottom of the National League West standings.

"We got to start thinking in terms of winning series," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "We're not going to really get into that kind of attitude we need to have unless we start stringing some wins together. I can't think in terms of splitting the series. If we lose [Saturday], I'll say [splitting the series] is a great idea, but our thoughts now are win today and hopefully it carries over to tomorrow and we have the momentum going for us. We're certainly good enough to do that."

Pirates' early success
The Pirates are 8-0 when leading after four innings. They haven't lost this season when tied at any point after the fourth. Moreover, the team is 5-1 in one-run games this year and 2-0 in games decided by two runs.

Dodgers powering up
Andre Ethier, with Saturday's homer, has hit home runs in back-to-back games for the second time this season. He also hit home runs on April 21 and 22 in Cincinnati. He has hit safely in eight of the Dodgers' nine home games this season, hitting .432 with five home runs during that stretch. ... Ramon Ortiz picked up his first win of the season on Saturday. It was his first victory since Oct. 1, 2007. He struck out five hitters in three scoreless innings to set a new season-high for Dodger relievers.

Worth noting:
The Dodgers extended their season-long errorless streak to four games on Saturday. The team also tied a season-low by limiting the opposition to one run for the third time this season.