Chicago Cubs (38-30, first in the NL Central) vs. New York Mets (35-25, first in the NL East)
Flushing, Queens; Thursday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (8-4, 4.46 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 58 strikeouts) Mets: Marcus Stroman (6-4, 2.33 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 67 strikeouts)
LINE: Mets -133, Cubs +116; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Chicago enters the game as losers of their last three games.
The Mets are 20-6 on their home turf. New York is averaging 3.7 RBIs per game this season. Pete Alonso leads the team with 34 total runs batted in.
The Cubs have gone 14-20 away from home. Chicago has hit 93 home runs this season, fifth in the National League. Javier Baez leads the team with 15, averaging one every 14.7 at-bats.
The Mets won the last meeting 6-3. Sean Reid-Foley earned his second victory and Kevin Pillar went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and two RBIs for New York. Robert Stock registered his first loss for Chicago.
TOP PERFORMERS: Dominic Smith leads the Mets with 49 hits and has 24 RBIs.
Anthony Rizzo ranks second on the Cubs with 23 extra base hits and is slugging .454.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mets: 8-2, .254 batting average, 2.93 ERA, outscored opponents by 21 runs
Cubs: 6-4, .189 batting average, 3.45 ERA, outscored opponents by seven runs
INJURIES: Mets: Jordan Yamamoto: (shoulder), Noah Syndergaard: (elbow), Tommy Hunter: (back), Jacob deGrom: (shoulder), Carlos Carrasco: (hamstring), Dellin Betances: (right shoulder), Brandon Nimmo: (finger), Johneshwy Fargas: (shoulder), Michael Conforto: (hamstring), Albert Almora Jr.: (shoulder), Jeff McNeil: (hamstring), Jose Martinez: (knee), J.D. Davis: (hand).
Cubs: Trevor Williams: (appendix), Rowan Wick: (oblique), Justin Steele: (hamstring), Dillon Maples: (tricep), Jonathan Holder: (shoulder), Adbert Alzolay: (finger), Nico Hoerner: (hamstring), Matt Duffy: (back), Kris Bryant: (hand), David Bote: (shoulder), Austin Romine: (left wrist), P.J. Higgins: (forearm).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
