Pittsburgh Pirates (29-42, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (42-28, first in the NL Central)
Chicago; Saturday, 2:20 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Mike Burrows (1-1, 5.00 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 17 strikeouts); Cubs: Matthew Boyd (5-3, 2.89 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 70 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cubs -230, Pirates +189; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Chicago Cubs host the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.
Chicago has a 42-28 record overall and a 21-12 record at home. The Cubs have the fourth-best team slugging percentage in MLB play at .439.
Pittsburgh has a 29-42 record overall and a 10-23 record in road games. The Pirates are 9-29 in games when they have allowed a home run.
Saturday's game is the sixth meeting between these teams this season. The Cubs hold a 3-2 advantage in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Nico Hoerner has a .284 batting average to lead the Cubs, and has 16 doubles and a triple. Seiya Suzuki is 12 for 41 with three home runs and four RBIs over the last 10 games.
Oneil Cruz has 10 doubles, a triple, 13 home runs and 30 RBIs for the Pirates. Henry Davis is 6 for 35 with two doubles, two home runs and three RBIs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 4-6, .223 batting average, 2.66 ERA, outscored opponents by one run
Pirates: 7-3, .236 batting average, 2.50 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs
INJURIES: Cubs: Miguel Amaya: 10-Day IL (oblique), Porter Hodge: 15-Day IL (oblique), Eli Morgan: 60-Day IL (elbow), Shota Imanaga: 15-Day IL (leg), Javier Assad: 60-Day IL (oblique), Justin Steele: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Pirates: Endy Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Joey Bart: 7-Day IL (concussion), Colin Holderman: 15-Day IL (thumb), Enmanuel Valdez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Justin Lawrence: 60-Day IL (elbow), Tim Mayza: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jared Jones: 60-Day IL (elbow), Johan Oviedo: 60-Day IL (elbow), Dauri Moreta: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
