Pittsburgh chases series win against Cubs

Posted September 27, 2018 7:00 am

By The Associated Press

Pittsburgh Pirates (80-77, fourth in NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (92-66, first in NL Central)

Chicago; Thursday, 8:05 p.m. Eastern

PROBABLE PITCHERS: Pirates: Trevor Williams (14-9, 3.04 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 122 strikeouts) Cubs: Jon Lester (17-6, 3.43 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 146 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: Pittsburgh is seeking to secure a series win with a victory against Chicago. The Cubs enter the matchup with 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 .310. The Pirates are 16-14 in games started by Williams. Pittsburgh has allowed just 2.0 runs per game in Williams' starts on the year. In Wednesday's game, the Cubs defeated the Pirates 7-6. Brandon Kintzler got the win for Chicago, his third on the season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Starling Marte has 150 hits for the Pirates this season. Heâ€™s batting .275 on the year. Corey Dickerson has two home runs and five RBIs while slugging .771 over his past 10 games for Pittsburgh. Javier Baez has 98 runs and 111 RBIs for the Cubs this season. Daniel Murphy has 13 hits and is batting .342 over his past 10 games for Chicago.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 7-3, .262 batting average, 3.50 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs. Cubs: 5-5, .242 batting average, 4.25 ERA, outscored by three runs.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by HERO Sports, and data from Sportradar.

Article Comments

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.