The Chicago Cubs seemed ready to carry momentum from a convincing victory into another divisional matchup, but instead enter the weekend with plenty of bullpen concerns.
The Cincinnati Reds, meanwhile, enter this three-game series Friday night on the tail-end of their extended season-opening run against the NL Central.
Chicago (8-7), which earned back-to-back victories in Pittsburgh on Monday and Tuesday, failed in a comeback effort Wednesday in a 4-3 loss and then blew a three-run lead in a 5-4 defeat to the Pirates on Thursday.
"We probably took the first two games away from them," manager Joe Maddon said. "They took the last two away from us, that's how this division is going to play this year."
Poor middle relief was the culprit for the Cubs in the series finale. Starter Kyle Hendricks lasted 5 1-3 innings before ceding the mound to Edwin Jackson, who allowed one earned run and one inherited runner to score before Brian Schlitter yielded Pittsburgh's go-ahead run in the seventh.
A similar performance against Cincinnati (8-8) would be a dramatic step backward from the relief pitching they put forth in a series win against the Reds on April 13-15, when they allowed no runs and only four hits in 8 1-3 innings of work.
Jon Lester (0-2, 6.89 ERA) will make the start Friday. The left-hander, who allowed six runs in six innings against the Reds on April 13, has yet to earn a win since signing with Chicago in the offseason, but expects to build from his slow start moving forward.
"I'm usually not a fast starter," Lester said. "Usually I guess it's maybe mid-May, June where you get into that rhythm of every five days and arm strength has built up and it's started to warm up and everything falls into place."
Mike Leake (0-1, 3.92) outdueled Lester in that victory and will again oppose the Cubs' No. 1 starter. Leake had his best outing of the young season his last time out, allowing just two runs and four hits through eight innings against St. Louis.
He surrendered four runs in his outing against the Cubs, but will face a slightly different lineup this time with top prospects Kris Bryant and Addison Russell having joined the fray.
Bryant is 9 for 25 with seven RBIs since his MLB debut April 17, while Russell has suffered a slower start, going 2 for 13 with six strikeouts through three games.
The Reds followed their series defeat in Chicago with a winless trip to St. Louis in which they scored only four total runs, but they rebounded with three wins in four tries against Milwaukee. They have yet to play a team from outside the NL Central.
Although they fell 4-2 in the series finale Thursday, the Reds' offense - highlighted by a five-homer, 16-run outburst Tuesday - impressed manager Bryan Price.
"Coming back and winning three out of four in this series (turned) what looked to be a disastrous road trip into, not a good one, but certainly a better (one) than it could have (been)," Price said.
Chris Coghlan is a perfect 8 for 8 against Leake in his career. He went 3 for 3 against the Reds starter earlier this month with a home run, a double and two runs.
