Chicago Cubs (25-43, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (28-39, third in the NL Central)
Pittsburgh; Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Keegan Thompson (6-2, 3.27 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 48 strikeouts); Pirates: Jerad Eickhoff (0-0)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Pirates -116, Cubs -103; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Chicago Cubs aim to break their three-game skid with a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pittsburgh has a 16-19 record at home and a 28-39 record overall. The Pirates have a 15-28 record in games when they have given up a home run.
Chicago has a 25-43 record overall and a 12-18 record on the road. Cubs hitters are batting a collective .242, which ranks eighth in the NL.
The teams meet Wednesday for the 12th time this season. The Pirates lead the season series 7-4.
TOP PERFORMERS: Daniel Vogelbach has seven doubles, a triple and eight home runs for the Pirates. Jack Suwinski is 7-for-31 with a double and three home runs over the last 10 games.
Ian Happ has a .289 batting average to rank fourth on the Cubs, and has 15 doubles, two triples and seven home runs. Willson Contreras is 11-for-37 with two home runs and four RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 4-6, .206 batting average, 3.98 ERA, outscored opponents by two runs
Cubs: 2-8, .243 batting average, 8.48 ERA, outscored by 59 runs
INJURIES: Pirates: Zach Thompson: 15-Day IL (forearm), Yoshitomo Tsutsugo: 10-Day IL (back), Dillon Peters: 15-Day IL (back), Tucupita Marcano: 10-Day IL (covid-19), Canaan Smith-Njigba: 60-Day IL (wrist), Duane Underwood Jr.: 15-Day IL (covid-19), Josh VanMeter: 10-Day IL (finger), Ben Gamel: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Kevin Newman: 60-Day IL (groin), Roberto Perez: 60-Day IL (hamstring), Jake Marisnick: 10-Day IL (thumb), Greg Allen: 60-Day IL (hamstring), Blake Cederlind: 60-Day IL (elbow), Nick Mears: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Cubs: Frank Schwindel: 10-Day IL (back), Nick Madrigal: 10-Day IL (groin), Wade Miley: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Marcus Stroman: 15-Day IL (shoulder), David Bote: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Manuel Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Drew Smyly: 15-Day IL (oblique), Seiya Suzuki: 10-Day IL (finger), Ethan Roberts: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Michael Hermosillo: 10-Day IL (covid), Adbert Alzolay: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Codi Heuer: 60-Day IL (elbow), Brad Wieck: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
