(Sports Network) - The Pittsburgh Pirates head west for the second leg of a 10-game road trip this evening, where the National League Central cellar- dwellers will play the first of three straight meetings with the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.

Pittsburgh got its trek off to a fine start, as the club took the first two tilts of a three-game set at Cincinnati before falling in Thursday's finale.

In yesterday's 8-6 loss to the Reds, the Pirates took a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning before the bullpen gave up three runs and the lead. All three were charged to Craig Hansen (0-3), who recorded just one out while surrendering two walks, a single and a wild pitch.

Chris Gomez and Nate McLouth both homered for Pittsburgh, with Gomez and Steve Pearce each knocking in a pair of runs in the loss.

The Pirates will send out Zach Duke, who hopes to put an end to a long and painful winless streak, out to the mound in tonight's opener. The left-hander has lost nine consecutive decisions and hasn't won in 14 starts since downing Arizona at home on June 9.

Duke did pitch very well his last time out, however, although he still found himself on the losing end. The 25-year-old held the Cubs to two runs and seven hits through eight innings in Pittsburgh's 2-0 setback to Chicago on August 27.

One of Duke's four victories in 2008 did come at the expense of San Francisco, which managed just three runs off of him in 7 1/3 innings in a May 6 matchup in Pittsburgh. That moved Duke to 1-1 with a 5.40 earned run average in four overall starts against the Giants.

San Francisco counters with Kevin Correia, who was reached for six runs in six innings during a no-decision at Cincinnati in his most recent start last Saturday. That effort raised the right-hander's season ERA to 5.35 in 19 games (18 starts).

Correia did win his most recent home start when he delivered six innings of three-run ball in an August 24 victory over San Diego. He has allowed one run in three innings over a trio of previous relief appearances against the Pirates.

The Giants halted a five-game losing streak with Wednesday's 9-2 triumph at Colorado on Wednesday. Barry Zito came through with eight excellent innings on the mound to lead the way, while Scott McClain and Travis Ishikawa each knocked in three runs to pace San Francisco offensively.

Zito (9-16) gave up just two runs and four hits while striking out five and was aided by a 14-hit attack by his teammates. Pablo Sandoval finished 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, while McClain also went deep in the win.

McClain's homer was the 36-year-old longtime minor-leaguer's first in the bigs. The third baseman has belted 362 lifetime home runs in the minors.

Pittsburgh swept a three-game series from the Giants at PNC Park back in May and is 13-3 against San Francisco since the start of the 2006 season. That includes a 6-1 mark at AT&T Park.