Pittsburgh Pirates (48-87, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (61-75, fourth in the NL Central)
Chicago; Saturday, 2:20 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: TBD Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (14-6, 4.43 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 117 strikeouts)
LINE: Cubs -130, Pirates +110; over/under is even
BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates travel to face the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
The Cubs are 35-32 on their home turf. Chicago has slugged .399 this season. Frank Schwindel leads the team with a mark of .608.
The Pirates are 20-49 in road games. The Pittsburgh offense has compiled a .231 batting average as a team this season, Bryan Reynolds leads the team with a mark of .295.
The Cubs won the last meeting 6-5. Trevor Megill secured his first victory and Michael Hermosillo went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and three RBIs for Chicago. Shelby Miller took his first loss for Pittsburgh.
TOP PERFORMERS: Ian Happ leads the Cubs with 18 home runs and is slugging .395.
Reynolds leads the Pirates with 54 extra base hits and is batting .295.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 7-3, .261 batting average, 5.06 ERA
Pirates: 3-7, .228 batting average, 5.50 ERA, outscored by 17 runs
INJURIES: Cubs: Brad Wieck: (heart), Kohl Stewart: (elbow), Jonathan Holder: (shoulder), Nick Madrigal: (hamstring), Nico Hoerner: (oblique), David Bote: (ankle), Jose Lobaton: (shoulder), P.J. Higgins: (forearm), Willson Contreras: (knee).
Pirates: Jose Soriano: (elbow), Dillon Peters: (back), Chase De Jong: (knee), Blake Cederlind: (elbow), Trevor Cahill: (calf), JT Brubaker: (thumb), Ke'Bryan Hayes: (hand), Michael Chavis: (elbow).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
