Chicago hosts Pittsburgh, aims to build on Davies' solid showing

Pittsburgh Pirates (13-18, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (16-16, third in the NL Central)

Chicago; Saturday, 2:20 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Wil Crowe (0-1, 4.66 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, 7 strikeouts) Cubs: Trevor Williams (2-2, 6.00 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, 29 strikeouts)

LINE: Cubs -178, Pirates +154; over/under is even

BOTTOM LINE: Chicago heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Zach Davies. Davies threw seven innings, surrendering zero runs on five hits against Pittsburgh.

The Cubs are 8-11 against the rest of their division. Chicago is averaging 4.4 RBIs per game this season. Javier Baez leads the team with 25 total runs batted in.

The Pirates are 5-11 against the rest of their division. Pittsburgh's lineup has 21 home runs this season, Phillip Evans leads the club with four homers.

The Cubs won the last meeting 3-2. Zach Davies earned his second victory and Joc Pederson went 3-for-4 with an RBI for Chicago. Trevor Cahill took his fourth loss for Pittsburgh.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kris Bryant leads the Cubs with nine home runs and is slugging .658.

Bryan Reynolds leads the Pirates with 14 extra base hits and is batting .278.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 6-4, .257 batting average, 4.55 ERA, outscored by two runs

Pirates: 3-7, .232 batting average, 3.83 ERA, outscored by 16 runs

INJURIES: Cubs: Dan Winkler: (triceps), Rowan Wick: (oblique), Shelby Miller: (back), Trevor Megill: (forearm), Jonathan Holder: (shoulder), Jake Arrieta: (thumb), Ian Happ: (rib), Nico Hoerner: (forearm), Austin Romine: (left wrist).

Pirates: Jose Soriano: (elbow), Chad Kuhl: (right shoulder), Austin Davis: (elbow), Blake Cederlind: (elbow), Steven Brault: (lat strain), Gregory Polanco: (undisclosed), Hunter Owen: (hand), Ke'Bryan Hayes: (wrist).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.