Mills expected to start as Chicago hosts Arizona
Arizona Diamondbacks (30-69, fifth in the NL West) vs. Chicago Cubs (48-50, fourth in the NL Central)
Chicago; Saturday, 2:20 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Diamondbacks: Merrill Kelly (6-7, 4.46 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 99 strikeouts) Cubs: Alec Mills (4-3, 4.64 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 46 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cubs -154, Diamondbacks +135; over/under is 11 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Chicago and Arizona will square off on Saturday.
The Cubs are 29-17 on their home turf. Chicago has a collective batting average of .225 this season, led by Kris Bryant with an average of .262.
The Diamondbacks are 11-39 on the road. The Arizona offense has compiled a .234 batting average as a team this season, Pavin Smith leads the team with a mark of .269.
The Cubs won the last meeting 8-3. Zach Davies recorded his sixth victory and Robinson Chirinos went 3-for-4 with two home runs and two RBIs for Chicago. Zac Gallen took his fifth loss for Arizona.
TOP PERFORMERS: Bryant leads the Cubs with 81 hits and has 48 RBIs.
Eduardo Escobar leads the Diamondbacks with 22 home runs and has 65 RBIs.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 5-5, .226 batting average, 3.92 ERA, outscored opponents by two runs
Diamondbacks: 5-5, .259 batting average, 5.98 ERA, outscored by 21 runs
INJURIES: Cubs: Brad Wieck: (heart), Rowan Wick: (oblique), Kohl Stewart: (elbow), Jonathan Holder: (shoulder), Jake Arrieta: (hamstring), David Bote: (shoulder), Austin Romine: (left wrist), Jose Lobaton: (shoulder), P.J. Higgins: (forearm).
Diamondbacks: Luke Weaver: (shoulder), Seth Frankoff: (forearm), Chris Devenski: (elbow), Taylor Clarke: (lat), Ketel Marte: (hamstring), Josh Rojas: (finger), Asdrubal Cabrera: (hamstring), Carson Kelly: (wrist).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.