Pittsburgh Pirates (74-74, third in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (82-66, second in the NL Central)
Chicago; Saturday, 2:20 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Paul Skenes (10-11, 3.83 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 181 strikeouts); Cubs: Clay Holmes (6-7, 2.83 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 65 strikeouts)
LINE: Cubs -126, Pirates +104; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Chicago Cubs play the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 1-0 series lead.
Chicago has a 42-31 record at home and an 82-66 record overall. The Cubs have the highest team slugging percentage in the NL at .431.
Pittsburgh is 36-40 on the road and 74-74 overall. Pirates hitters have a collective .330 on-base percentage, the fourth-ranked percentage in the NL.
The teams meet Saturday for the 12th time this season. The Cubs are ahead 6-5 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Pete Crow-Armstrong has 28 doubles, seven triples and 41 home runs while hitting .281 for the Cubs. Alex Bregman is 12 for 35 with three doubles and two home runs over the past 10 games.
Nick Gonzales has 25 doubles, a triple, six home runs and 59 RBIs for the Pirates. Bryan Reynolds is 11 for 37 with four doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 4-6, .239 batting average, 5.17 ERA, outscored by three runs
Pirates: 7-3, .270 batting average, 4.10 ERA, even run differential
INJURIES: Cubs: Gavin Hollowell: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Christopher Austin: 60-Day IL (knee), Edward Cabrera: 15-Day IL (blister), 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: day-to-day (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.
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