Cubs and Mets meet in series rubber match

New York Mets (81-77, second in the NL East) vs. Chicago Cubs (89-69, second in the NL Central)

Chicago; Thursday, 7:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Mets: Nolan McLean (4-1, 1.27 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 46 strikeouts); Cubs: Shota Imanaga (9-7, 3.37 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 114 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Mets -112, Cubs -107; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Chicago Cubs and New York Mets meet on Thursday with the three-game series tied 1-1.

Chicago is 89-69 overall and 47-30 at home. The Cubs have the seventh-best team slugging percentage in MLB play at .426.

New York is 32-45 in road games and 81-77 overall. Mets hitters have a collective .327 on-base percentage, the sixth-best percentage in the majors.

The teams play Thursday for the sixth time this season. The Mets are ahead 3-2 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Michael Busch leads the Cubs with 31 home runs while slugging .499. Matt Shaw is 10 for 35 with two home runs and three RBIs over the last 10 games.

Juan Soto has 43 home runs, 124 walks and 105 RBIs while hitting .267 for the Mets. Pete Alonso is 14 for 39 with a double, four home runs and nine RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 5-5, .258 batting average, 3.03 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs

Mets: 5-5, .260 batting average, 3.82 ERA, outscored opponents by seven runs

INJURIES: Cubs: Cade Horton: day-to-day (back), Owen Caissie: 7-Day IL (concussion), Kyle Tucker: 10-Day IL (calf), Ryan Brasier: 15-Day IL (groin), Miguel Amaya: 10-Day IL (ankle), Justin Steele: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Mets: Reed Garrett: 15-Day IL (elbow), Frankie Montas: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jesse Winker: 60-Day IL (back), Max Kranick: 60-Day IL (elbow), Dedniel Nunez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Tylor Megill: 60-Day IL (elbow), Griffin Canning: 60-Day IL (achilles), Danny Young: 60-Day IL (elbow), A.J. Minter: 60-Day IL (lat), Nick Madrigal: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Drew Smith: 60-Day IL (elbow), Christian Scott: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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