Pittsburgh Pirates (74-75, third in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (83-66, second in the NL Central)
Chicago; Sunday, 2:20 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Bubba Chandler (7-9, 4.25 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 129 strikeouts); Cubs: Matthew Boyd (8-4, 4.03 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 86 strikeouts)
LINE: Cubs -148, Pirates +121; over/under is 6 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Chicago Cubs will try to keep their three-game home win streak alive when they face the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Chicago has a 43-31 record at home and an 83-66 record overall. Cubs hitters have a collective .340 on-base percentage, the second-best percentage in MLB play.
Pittsburgh has gone 36-41 on the road and 74-75 overall. Pirates hitters have a collective .401 slugging percentage to rank eighth in the NL.
Sunday's game is the 13th time these teams square off this season. The Cubs are up 7-5 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Pete Crow-Armstrong leads the Cubs with 41 home runs while slugging .566. Nico Hoerner is 13 for 40 with a double and five RBIs over the last 10 games.
Bryan Reynolds has 36 doubles, two triples, 17 home runs and 70 RBIs for the Pirates. Esmerlyn Valdez is 5 for 36 with a double, two home runs and five RBIs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 5-5, .241 batting average, 4.44 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs
Pirates: 6-4, .238 batting average, 3.34 ERA, outscored by two runs
INJURIES: Cubs: Gavin Hollowell: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Trent Thornton: 15-Day IL (ankle), Christopher Austin: 60-Day IL (knee), Hunter Harvey: 60-Day IL (tricep), Ben Brown: 60-Day IL (neck), Dansby Swanson: 10-Day IL (side), Riley Martin: 60-Day IL (elbow), Phil Maton: 60-Day IL (knee), Justin Steele: 60-Day IL (elbow), Porter Hodge: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cade Horton: 60-Day IL (forearm), Shelby Miller: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Pirates: Esmerlyn Valdez: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Braxton Ashcraft: 15-Day IL (arm), Isaac Mattson: 15-Day IL (hip), Kirby Yates: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Endy Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (hip), Mitch Keller: 60-Day IL (arm)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
