Minnesota @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 19, 2012 ) Minnesota 2, Pittsburgh 7

The Minnesota Twins have enough trouble scoring runs with Joe Mauer in the lineup. His absence from Tuesday's interleague series opener with the Pittsburgh Pirates just made things worse. The Twins hope the three-time batting champion will make his return from a quad injury as they resume their three-game set with the surging Pirates at PNC Park. Pittsburgh won the opener 7-2 behind homers from Josh Harrison and Andrew McCutchen.

The Twins own the worst run differential in the majors, and looked like lightweights Tuesday even though the Pirates themselves own of the league's most anemic offenses. Pittsburgh comes into this one having won three straight games to move four games above the .500 mark for the season. Wednesday's pitching matchup pits Francisco Liriano against Erik Bedard in a battle of underwhelming left-handers.

PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins LH Francisco Liriano (1-7, 6.24 ERA) vs. Pirates LH Erik Bedard (4-7, 4.36)

Liriano struggled mightily to open the year but has been more effective of late, posting a 3.04 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings over his last four starts. The Twins have gone just 1-3 in those games, but Liriano has managed to reduce his ERA by more than two runs over that span. Liriano has faced the Pirates twice in his career, going 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA.

Bedard has been trending in the opposite direction, failing to make it out of the fourth inning twice in the past three outings. He was torched for seven runs in just 3 1/3 innings in his last game, a 12-6 defeat at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles. Bedard has made 12 career starts against Minnesota, posting a 2-5 mark with a 4.13 ERA over 61 innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Twins 1B Justin Morneau is hitting just .251 for his career against left-handers but has teed off against Bedard, batting .407 (11-for-27) with two homers and 11 RBIs.

2. Only four Pirates players have faced Liriano and are batting a collective .238 against him.

3. At minus-17, the Pirates are the only current National League team with a winning record and a negative run differential.