Chicago Cubs (45-41, second in the NL Central) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (41-43, fourth in the NL Central)
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Yu Darvish (2-4, 4.98 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 105 strikeouts) Pirates: Chris Archer (3-6, 5.50 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 80 strikeouts)
LINE: Cubs favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE:
The Pirates are 15-16 against the rest of their division. Pittsburgh ranks fifth in the majors in hitting with a .268 batting average, Bryan Reynolds leads the team with an average of .351.
The Cubs are 14-15 against teams from the NL Central. The Chicago pitching staff owns a team ERA of 4.15, Yu Darvish leads the staff with a mark of 4.98. The Pirates won the last meeting 5-1. Clay Holmes notched his first victory and Adam Frazier went 4-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBIs for Pittsburgh. Kyle Hendricks took his sixth loss for Chicago.
TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Bell leads the Pirates with 25 home runs and has 78 RBIs. Kevin Newman is 14-for-39 with two doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.
Javier Baez leads the Cubs with 96 hits and has 57 RBIs. Jason Heyward is 13-for-35 with two doubles, a triple, four home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games for Chicago.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 7-3, .323 batting average, 3.34 ERA, outscored opponents by 37 runs
Cubs: 4-6, .269 batting average, 5.65 ERA, outscored by 10 runs
Pirates Injuries: Jameson Taillon: 60-day IL (elbow), Edgar Santana: 60-day IL (elbow), Chad Kuhl: 60-day IL (elbow), Keone Kela: 60-day IL (shoulder), Rookie Davis: 10-day IL (finger/forearm), Nick Burdi: 60-day IL (biceps), Chris Archer: day-to-day (hip), Gregory Polanco: 10-day IL (shoulder), Lonnie Chisenhall: 60-day IL (finger), Erik Gonzalez: 60-day IL (collarbone), Francisco Cervelli: 10-day IL (concussion).
Cubs Injuries: Allen Webster: 60-day IL (hand), Brandon Morrow: 60-day IL (elbow), Cole Hamels: 10-day IL (oblique), Kendall Graveman: 60-day IL (elbow), Carl Edwards Jr.: 10-day IL (shoulder), Xavier Cedeno: 10-day IL (wrist).
