Cubs at Pirates 7/1/19 - MLB Picks & Predictions

In Monday night baseball on ESPN, the Chicago Cubs will invade PNC Park to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs have lost six of their previous ten games and are tied with Milwaukee atop the NL Central Division standings. On Sunday, Kyle Schwarber homered as part of a three-hit day in a losing effort for the Cubs.

Rookie right-hander Adbert Alzolay (1-0 2.08 ERA) will make his second career major league start for the Cubs. Through eight plus innings, Alzolay has struck out nine batters and issued six walks. The Pittsburgh Pirates are two games below .500 at home this season and trying to hang around in the NL Central Division race. On Sunday, Pittsburgh committed four errors and had seven hits during a 2-1 loss at Milwaukee. Starling Marte had three hits and scored a run for the Pirates, who are five games out of first place.

Pittsburgh skipper Clint Hurdle will turn to right-hander Trevor Williams (2-2 4.25 ERA) to start the series opener. Since returning from the injured list, Williams has been tagged for 17 hits and 11 runs in 11 plus innings.