(Best E Casino) - Joba Chamberlain takes another shot at his first win as a starter this evening when the New York Yankees continue their three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

Chamberlain struck out a career-high nine batters on Thursday against San Diego, but did not get a decision, despite allowing just a run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings of his team's 2-1 win.

In four starts Chamberlain has pitched to a 2.45 earned run average, but has yet to earn a decision. He is 1-2 on the season with a 2.36 ERA.

Chamberlain has never faced the Pirates.

Pittsburgh will counter with 25-year-old lefty Zach Duke, who is 4-4 with a 3.91 ERA. Duke had his best outing of the season on Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays, scattering six hits over seven scoreless innings, but did not factor in the decision of his team's 1-0 win.

Duke, who is 4-2 in his eight home starts this season, will be making his first-ever appearance against the Yanks.

In the opener of this set on Tuesday, Ryan Doumit and Jose Bautista both homered as Pittsburgh rolled to a 12-5 win. Doumit finished 3-for-5 with a pair of runs batted in for the Pirates, who pounded out a season-high 19 hits.

Tom Gorzelanny (6-6), who came into the game with a woeful 6.59 earned run average, allowed three runs on six hits in six innings to pick up the win.

Bobby Abreu had a two-run homer for the Yankees, who have dropped three of their last four games. Rookie Justin Christian, who was called up before the game from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre, was 2-for-4 with a two-run double and Robinson Cano was 3-for-4 with an RBI.

Darrell Rasner (4-5) was awful on the hill for New York. The right-hander was touched for seven runs on 10 hits in five ineffective innings.

On the injury front for the Yankees, Hideki Matsui missed last night's tilt with a sore knee and a stiff neck and will likely miss tonight's contest as well. Johnny Damon, meanwhile, got treatment on his sore foot and could return tonight.

The Yankees have won six of the seven regular season matchups with the Pirates, sweeping them both times in the Bronx. Pittsburgh is actually the only NL town the Yankees had yet to visit since the inception of interleague play in 1997.

Of course, this is New York's first visit to the Steel City since one of the most crushing defeats in its storied history. The Pirates beat them in the seventh game of the 1960 World Series on a bottom of the ninth inning home run by Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski.

To this day, Mazeroski's homer remains the only Game 7-ending homer in World Series history.