(SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Yankees will try to continue their home mastery of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, as the two conclude a three-game series with a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.
New York smacked five home runs and beat the Pirates for the seventh straight time in the Bronx on Saturday, 7-1.
Mark Teixeira set the tone with a two-run shot in the first inning, with Zoilo Almonte, Brett Gardner and Alfonso Soriano tacking on solo homers prior to Brian McCann's two-run blast in the eighth.
"We won with the home run today, which we're capable of doing," said Teixeira. "The last two games our pitching's really picked us up. It's good to see us break out today."
Four of the homers came against Edinson Volquez (1-4), who allowed just two other hits over his 6 1/3-inning stint but was responsible for five runs.
Offensively, the Pirates left eight men on base and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
"We have had pitches to hit and we've just to keep battling," said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle.
David Phelps (1-0) worked around five hits and three walks to hold Pittsburgh scoreless over the first five innings and continue New York's strong pitching stretch.
The Yankees have given up just one run over the last three games.
Now, the teams play a rare single admission doubleheader after Friday's scheduled opener was postponed due to rain.
Hiroki Kuroda will get the call for New York in the first game, as he tries to bounce back from a shaky start his last time out. Kuroda did not get a decision versus the Mets on Monday, but surrendered four runs in six innings of his team's 9-7 loss.
Kuroda, who is 2-3 on the year with a 4.62 ERA, has faced the Pirates seven times and is 5-1 against them with a 1.84 ERA.
Pittsburgh will counter him with winless Charlie Morton, who is 0-5 with a 3.22 ERA. Morton's latest setback came on Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals, as he allowed four runs (1 earned) and seven hits in six innings.
"We kept chipping away and we almost pulled it out but I can't give up four runs there, especially in the first inning," said Morton, who hasn't won since beating Milwaukee on Sept. 2. "It put us in a bad spot from the start."
The Pirates, though, will rely on 23-year-old Gerrit Cole in the second game. Cole lost for the third time in his last four decisions on Tuesday in Milwaukee, as he surrendered three runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings and fell to 3-3 with a 3.76 ERA.
"He stays in control of what he can stay in control of," Hurdle said. "Even when he might miss his location or do what he planned to get done, he's just got to move on and he's shown a lot of progress in that area."
New York, meanwhile, will rely on lefty Vidal Nuno in game two. Nuno was hammered by the Mets on Tuesday to the tune of seven runs (5 earned) and four hits with four walks in just 3 1/3 frames, dropping him to 1-1 on the year to go along with a 6.43 ERA.
Pittsburgh, which has lost eight of 10 regular season matchups with the Yankees, hasn't won in the Bronx since winning Game 5 of the 1960 World Series.
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