Pirates look to build on Taillon's strong showing
Pittsburgh Pirates (79-76, fourth in NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (91-65, first in NL Central)
Chicago; Tuesday, 8:05 p.m. Eastern
PROBABLE PITCHERS: Pirates: Chris Archer (5-8, 4.49 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 153 strikeouts) Cubs: Mike Montgomery (5-5, 3.75 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 82 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Jameson Taillon delivered Monday against Chicago, giving up just one run in seven innings. Pittsburgh will look to carry that momentum into Tuesday’s matchup. The Cubs come into the matchup with a one and a half-game lead over the Brewers in the NL Central. The Chicago offense has compiled a .259 batting average as a team this season, Ben Zobrist leads the team with a mark of .311. The Pirates are 4-5 in Archer's starts. Pittsburgh has allowed just 3.0 runs per game in Archer's starts this season. In Monday's game, the Pirates defeated the Cubs 5-1. Taillon got the win for Pittsburgh, his 14th on the season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Bell has 11 home runs and 60 RBIs in 142 games for the Pirates. Corey Dickerson has one home run and six RBIs while slugging .710 over his past 10 games for Pittsburgh. Javier Baez has 34 home runs and 110 RBIs in 153 games for the Cubs. Daniel Murphy has 11 hits and is batting .289 over his past 10 games for Chicago.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 7-3, .247 batting average, 3.76 ERA, outscored by two runs. Cubs: 6-4, .230 batting average, 3.27 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs.
CUBS INJURIES: The Cubs transferred RHP Brandon Morrow to the 60-day disabled list on Wednesday.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by HERO Sports, and data from Sportradar.