Chicago Cubs (65-66, third in the NL Central) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (62-68, fifth in the NL Central)
Pittsburgh; Monday, 6:40 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Jameson Taillon (8-8, 3.77 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 101 strikeouts); Pirates: Mitch Keller (11-7, 3.76 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 134 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Pirates -113, Cubs -106; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates host the Chicago Cubs on Monday to open a three-game series.
Pittsburgh has gone 32-33 at home and 62-68 overall. The Pirates have a 45-14 record in games when they out-hit their opponents.
Chicago has gone 29-37 in road games and 65-66 overall. The Cubs are 28-7 in games when they hit two or more home runs.
Monday's game is the eighth time these teams meet this season. The Pirates are up 4-3 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Oneil Cruz has 29 doubles, three triples, 18 home runs and 63 RBI while hitting .265 for the Pirates. Joey Bart is 10-for-34 with two doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.
Nico Hoerner has 26 doubles, a triple and five home runs for the Cubs. Miguel Amaya is 11-for-32 with two doubles and three home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 6-4, .222 batting average, 3.47 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs
Cubs: 6-4, .232 batting average, 3.67 ERA, outscored opponents by 10 runs
INJURIES: Pirates: Joey Bart: day-to-day (hamstring), Hunter Stratton: 60-Day IL (patella), Ke'Bryan Hayes: 10-Day IL (herniated disc), Andrew McCutchen: 10-Day IL (knee), Marco Gonzales: 60-Day IL (forearm), Colin Holderman: 15-Day IL (undisclosed), Daulton Jefferies: 60-Day IL (elbow), Carmen Mlodzinski: 15-Day IL (undisclosed), Nick Gonzales: 10-Day IL (undisclosed), Jared Jones: 15-Day IL (lat), Ryan Borucki: 60-Day IL (tricep), Dauri Moreta: 60-Day IL (elbow), Endy Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Johan Oviedo: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Cubs: Tomas Nido: 10-Day IL (knee), Ben Brown: 60-Day IL (neck), Luke Little: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Hayden Wesneski: 15-Day IL (forearm), Jordan Wicks: 60-Day IL (oblique), Colten Brewer: 60-Day IL (hand), Yency Almonte: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Adbert Alzolay: 60-Day IL (forearm)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
