Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Zach Duke allows four runs and 10 hits, but it still proves good enough to earn his fifth victory without a loss last night in the Pirates' 9-4 victory vs. the Dodgers at PNC Park. Click photo for larger image. More Pirates Coverage: Pirates Notebook: Tike Redman grasps his future Paul Meyer's Baseball Notebook: Fixed by a Hammer

Perhaps it says something about young Zach Duke that he is most impressive when he is not in peak form.

He did not have top velocity, his changeup was flat, and his curveball showed little arc. He missed some spots and made some dubious decisions.

As Duke put it afterward, "I was battling myself all night."

But he won that battle and the larger one at hand, trudging through 7 1/3 innings of the Pirates' 9-4 trouncing of the Los Angeles Dodgers before an overflow crowd of 38,579 last night at PNC Park.

He gave up four runs and 10 hits along the way, but it was enough to improve his record to 5-0 and collect a sweet slice of franchise history: The only other Pirates starter to open his career 5-0 was Whitey Glazner in 1921.

"Never heard of him," Duke said, grinning. "Apparently, he was pretty good."

Duke was pretty good, too, despite showing up with less than his best. All but 31 of his 111 pitches were strikes, and he had six strikeouts to two walks, one of those intentional.

He did not dominate, as he has in most of his starts, and that was due largely to a lack of command inside the zone.

"Zach still threw strikes. It's just they were up or running over the plate," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "He did not have his best stuff, but he certainly pitched. You're not going to go out there with your best stuff every night."

"I couldn't get the ball in, couldn't get it down consistently," Duke said. "But I found a way to make my pitches when I needed them."

Duke's bar could not have been set much higher, as he entered with the perfect record and a 0.92 earned run average. He had not trailed in any of his first six starts.

But it appeared he might finally taste disappointment last night in the pivotal fifth inning.

The Pirates led, 5-1, but the bases were loaded with one out, and the Dodgers already had shown Duke was not fooling them much by hitting several balls with authority.

He did not escape unscathed: Olmedo Saenz's bloop single drove in one run, and Antonio Perez's sacrifice fly brought another to make it 5-3. But Mike Edwards grounded into a forceout to end the threat.

Still, there was no gapper, no grand slam. Just a couple of runs.

"He did a nice job," McClendon said.

"All I was telling myself was to get the ball down," Duke said. "Just get out of it."

Once he did, Duke retired the Dodgers in order in the sixth and seventh. He gave up a solo home run to Saenz to start the eighth and, two batters later, was removed by McClendon.

The crowd's initial reaction was to boo McClendon, but that smoothly segued into chants of "Duuuuuuuuuuuke!" as Duke walked off to a standing ovation.

"It was an awesome atmosphere," Duke said. "That's something I was thinking about later in the dugout: This place is great when it's packed. And that's the type of stuff that's going to happen when we start winning. You love to see that. As bad as we're doing right now, we're still getting that support. They were behind us 100 percent."

Los Angeles became the first team to take a lead against Duke with Saenz's RBI single in the first. In a rare mental lapse, he elevated an 0-2, two-out fastball that Saenz chopped into center.

"That's not my game," Duke said.

The Pirates responded with five runs over the first four innings, all on two-out hits.

Jose Castillo had an RBI single in the first. Freddy Sanchez had an RBI single and Jason Bay a two-run double in the second. And Chris Duffy drove in the run that brought a 5-1 lead in the fourth with an infield single that followed Sanchez's two-out triple.

"Those two-out hits, those can be back-breakers for the other team," shortstop Jack Wilson said.

After Duke dodged his trouble in the fifth, Wilson's sixth home run of the season in the next inning -- he lifted an 0-1 Odalis Perez fastball into the left-field bleachers -- put the Pirates up, 6-3.

Run-scoring doubles by Brad Eldred and Castillo in the seventh made it 8-3, and Bay's single in the eighth netted his third RBI.

Duffy finished 4 for 5 with three runs for his second four-hit game since being recalled July 17. He has hit safely in 16 of his past 17 starts and is batting .427 in that span.

"Chris swung the bat extremely well," McClendon said.

The Pirates' nine-game losing streak against Los Angeles reached an end, providing the latest example of Duke stopping a slump for his team. Before each of his past two outings, the Pirates have had four consecutive poor starts from the other members of the rotation.

Duke not only has sparkled individually, but also seems to have sparked his teammates when he takes the mound.

"Certainly, I think he gives the guys the feeling it's going to be a low-scoring game," McClendon said. "That comes into play. You want to know the pitcher's out there with you."

Will he ever lose?

"I don't know," Duke said. "I'm sure I will. I don't think there's ever been an undefeated pitcher. It's just a matter of time, right?"

Difficult to say, if only because there is no precedent five weeks into his career.

The rookie candidates
Pirates P Zach Duke has only been in the major leagues since July 1, but if he continues to perform as he has, he likely would have to garner consideration for NL rookie of the year. A look at the rookies who might be considered candidates:
Position players
Name, team	Pos.	G	AB	R	H	HRs	RBIs	SB	Avg.
Willy Taveras, Astros	CF	105	412	54	120	3	20	27	.291
Garrett Atkins, Rockies	3B	85	309	37	87	7	48	0	.282
Jason Ellison, Giants	CF	103	316	46	86	4	23	12	.272
Jeff Francoeur, Braves	RF	20	69	18	28	7	19	0	.406
Clint Barmes, Rockies*	SS	54	225	40	74	8	34	4	.329
*-injured since June 5
Pitchers
Name, team	G	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W-L	ERA
Zach Duke, Pirates	7	46 2/3	44	9	8	12	35	5-0	1.54
Brad Halsey, D'backs	22	131 1/3	153	72	54	28	71	8-7	3.70
Jeff Francis, Rockies	22	127 1/3	150	73	73	51	90	10-7	5.16