Pittsburgh Pirates (8-5, second in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (6-7, fifth in the NL Central)
Chicago; Saturday, 2:20 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Braxton Ashcraft (1-1, 2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 11 strikeouts); Cubs: Edward Cabrera (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, nine strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates will try to keep a three-game road win streak going when they play the Chicago Cubs.
Chicago is 6-7 overall and 3-4 in home games. The Cubs rank fourth in the NL with 13 total home runs, averaging 1.0 per game.
Pittsburgh is 8-5 overall and 4-3 on the road. The Pirates are 5-1 in games when they have more hits than their opponents.
Saturday's game is the second time these teams meet this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Nico Hoerner has a .326 batting average to lead the Cubs, and has six doubles and a home run. Ian Happ is 9 for 38 with four home runs and seven RBIs over the past 10 games.
Ryan O'Hearn has two doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs for the Pirates. Oneil Cruz is 13 for 40 with two doubles, four home runs and 12 RBIs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 5-5, .220 batting average, 2.69 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs
Pirates: 7-3, .234 batting average, 2.53 ERA, outscored opponents by 13 runs
INJURIES: Cubs: Phil Maton: 15-Day IL (knee), Matthew Boyd: 15-Day IL (biceps), Cade Horton: 15-Day IL (forearm), Porter Hodge: 15-Day IL (elbow), Justin Steele: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jordan Wicks: 15-Day IL (forearm), Shelby Miller: 60-Day IL (elbow), Christopher Austin: 60-Day IL (knee)
Pirates: Jared Triolo: 10-Day IL (knee), Jared Jones: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
