Pittsburgh @ Arizona preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 19, 2011 ) Pittsburgh 0, Arizona 1

THE STORY: A dominant performance by Ian Kennedy helped the Arizona Diamondbacks move closer to their fifth National League West Division title as they eked out a 1-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday. Kennedy became the second 20-game winner in the majors by allowing one hit over eight innings. Arizona survived a rally attempt in the ninth to increase its division lead over San Francisco to 5 1/2 games and reduce its magic number to four. The Pirates nine of their last 11 games and scored a total of five runs over their last four contests.

TV: 9:40 p.m. ET, Root Sports (Pittsburgh), FSN (Arizona)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Charlie Morton (9-10, 3.81 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks RH Daniel Hudson (16-10, 3.39 ERA).

Morton has lost four straight starts and is just 1-5 in his last 10 outings. He suffered the loss on Wednesday against St. Louis despite allowing three runs in seven innings. Morton has not faced the Diamondbacks since April 9, 2010, when he was pounded for eight runs over 3 1/3 frames at Chase Field.

Hudson had his four-start winning streak snapped at Los Angeles on Wednesday despite allowing only two runs in seven innings. The 24-year old has yielded six earned runs in 38 2/3 frames over his last five outings. Hudson settled for a no-decision at Pittsburgh on June 7 after surrendering three runs - one earned - in seven innings.

ABOUT THE PIRATES (68-86): Jeff Karstens made his last start of the season a good one as he allowed one run and five hits over six innings. However, the righthander wound up going 1-5 over his final 10 outings. Karstens has been shut down by manager Clint Hurdle because of his workload, as he has pitched a career-high 162 1/3 frames this season. Pittsburgh is one of four major-league teams to have five pitchers with at least 25 starts this season. It's the fifth time in franchise history the Pirates have accomplished the feat and the first since 1997.

ABOUT THE DIAMONDBACKS (89-65): Kennedy, who tied his career high with 12 strikeouts, set down the first eight batters he faced Monday before allowing a single to counterpart Karstens. He also retired the final 14 hitters before giving way to J.J. Putz, who gave up a one-out triple to Alex Presley before getting a groundout and a strikeout for his 21st consecutive save. He is one away from matching the franchise record set from June 13-Sept. 22, 1998, by Gregg Olson. Arizona recalled top prospect Jarrod Parker from Double-A Mobile on Monday. The righthander, who missed all of 2010 following Tommy John surgery, went 11-8 with a 3.79 ERA in 26 starts for the Southern League championship team.

FINAL PITCH: Kennedy became the fourth pitcher in Diamondbacks history to reach the 20-win plateau. The 26-year old joined Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Brandon Webb in the exclusive group.