New York to visit Chicago Friday

New York Mets (35-40, fourth in the NL East) vs. Chicago Cubs (41-33, first in the NL Central)

Chicago; Friday, 2 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Mets: Jason Vargas (3-3, 3.74 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 44 strikeouts) Cubs: Yu Darvish (2-3, 4.65 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 91 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE:

The Cubs are 26-12 in home games. Chicago's team on-base percentage of .331 is eighth in the majors. Kris Bryant leads the team with an OBP of .388.

The Mets are 15-26 on the road. New York has slugged .426 this season. Pete Alonso leads the team with a mark of .628. The Cubs won the last meeting 7-4. Adbert Alzolay earned his first victory and Javier Baez went 2-for-4 with a triple, a home run and two RBIs for Chicago. Walker Lockett took his first loss for New York.

TOP PERFORMERS: Baez leads the Cubs with 39 extra base hits and is batting .286. Kyle Schwarber is 8-for-39 with two doubles, four home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Chicago.

Alonso leads the Mets with 43 extra base hits and is batting .275. Jeff McNeil is 15-for-42 with four doubles, two home runs and four RBIs over the last 10 games for New York.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 4-6, .233 batting average, 4.34 ERA

Mets: 3-7, .265 batting average, 6.31 ERA, outscored by 15 runs

Cubs Injuries: Allen Webster: 60-day IL (hand), Brandon Morrow: 60-day IL (elbow), Kyle Hendricks: 10-day IL (shoulder), Kendall Graveman: 60-day IL (elbow), Carl Edwards Jr.: 10-day IL (shoulder), Xavier Cedeno: 10-day IL (wrist), Tony Barnette: 60-day IL (shoulder).

Mets Injuries: Justin Wilson: 10-day IL (elbow), Jason Vargas: day-to-day (foot), Noah Syndergaard: 10-day IL (hamstring), Drew Smith: 60-day IL (elbow), Jeurys Familia: 10-day IL (shoulder), Luis Avilan: 10-day IL (elbow), Brandon Nimmo: 10-day IL (neck), Yoenis Cespedes: 60-day IL (heels), Jed Lowrie: 60-day IL (knee).

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