BRADENTON, Fla. — With a week before their season opener, the Pittsburgh Pirates' pitching rotation is set. Their bullpen, by contrast, remains very unsettled.

Manager John Russell said Sunday that left-hander Paul Maholm will be the No. 3 starter and will go April 3 in Atlanta. Right-hander Matt Morris is the No. 4 starter and left-hander Zach Duke, last year's Opening Day starter, is No. 5. Morris will start April 4 in Florida, with Duke going a day later.

Earlier in camp, Russell said Ian Snell would pitch the March 31 opener in Atlanta, with left-hander Tom Gorzelanny going in the second game of the season two days later and the April 7 home opener against the Cubs.

The sequencing allows Russell to break up his three left-handers, with Morris going between Maholm and Duke and Snell separating Duke and Gorzelanny.

To stay on his throwing schedule, Duke will move up a day and start Wednesday's exhibition game against Detroit before making his final spring start in a minor league game next Sunday. Duke was limited to two innings, rather than his scheduled six, when Saturday's exhibition game against Tampa Bay was rained out shortly after starting.

Maholm built upon his already strong spring, pitching two-hit ball over six innings while beating the Yankees 8-0 on Sunday. He has pitched 10 shutout innings against the Yankees this spring, permitting three hits.

"He came into camp with a very good attitude, he's carried it over into his workouts and his pitching," Russell said. "The consistency of it, that's what we've been preaching to all of them. (Having) a consistent daily routine and consistent side work and carrying that over into when they start."

During the final week of spring training, Morris starts today against Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Snell goes Tuesday against the Twins, Gorzelanny pitches Thursday against the Yankees in Tampa, Maholm faces the Twins in Fort Myers on Friday and Morris opposes the Twins in Bradenton on Saturday.

It might take Russell, pitching coach Jeff Andrews and the rest of the staff a lot longer to sort out the bullpen crowd.

Matt Capps, the closer, and left-handed setup relievers Damaso Marte and John Grabow are certain to be among the seven relievers. Right-hander Franquelis Osoria, a former Dodgers reliever, has allowed only two hits while pitching five shutout innings and is a front-runner.

So is left-hander Sean Burnett, a converted starter who hasn't allowed a run or a hit over his last seven innings. With his background as a starter, the former first-round draft pick can pitch multiple innings, yet doesn't need much shutdown time between appearances.

If those five make the team, it leaves Hector Carrasco, Phil Dumatrait, Casey Fossum, Byung-Hyun Kim, Masumi Kuwata, Rule Five pick Evan Meek and former major league starter Jaret Wright competing for two spots.

"Coming into the spring, I don't think many people thought we were going to have that big a decision, but it's turned into that," Russell said. "We have to put our heads together and try to make the right decision, and we really have to dig into it because we don't have much time left. These guys have made it awfully hard on us and that's what you like, but it also makes your decisions tough."