Chicago Cubs (32-22, first in the NL Central) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (15-39, fifth in the NL Central)
Pittsburgh; Tuesday, 7:05 p.m. EDT
LINE: Cubs favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Pittsburgh enters the matchup as losers of their last five games.
The Pirates are 13-24 against the rest of their division. Pittsburgh has hit 46 home runs this season, the lowest total in the league. Colin Moran leads the club with eight, averaging one every 19.6 at-bats.
The Cubs have gone 22-15 against division opponents. The Chicago pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 3.87. Yu Darvish leads the team with a 2.22 earned run average.
TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Bell leads the Pirates with 40 hits and is batting .226.
Ian Happ leads the Cubs with 48 hits and is batting .262.
INJURIES: Pirates: Jameson Taillon: (elbow), Keone Kela: (forearm), Clay Holmes: (right forearm), Michael Feliz: (right forearm), Kyle Crick: (lat strain), Nick Burdi: (right elbow), Tyler Bashlor: (back), Chris Archer: (neck), Cole Tucker: (concussion), Kevin Kramer: (hip), Anthony Alford: (elbow), Kevin Newman: (knee), Phillip Evans: (broken jaw/concussion), Luke Maile: (finger).
Cubs: Brad Wieck: (hamstring), Rowan Wick: (oblique), Jose Quintana: (left lat), James Norwood: (right shoulder), Tyler Chatwood: (right elbow), Ildemaro Vargas: (hamstring), Daniel Descalso: (ankle), Kris Bryant: (undisclosed).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
