Pirates at Cubs 7/12/19 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Friday MLB schedule will get underway with a battle between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs from Wrigley Field. Pittsburgh won eight of their last 12 games heading into the All-Star Break and are 2.5 games out of first place. All-Star 1B Josh Bell leads the Pirates with a .302 batting average to go along with 27 home runs and 84 runs batted in.

Twenty-six year old righty Chris Archer (3-6 5.49 ERA) will take the mound for the Pirates in this matchup. Pittsburgh has won each of Archer’s last four starts and he has allowed 10 runs over his last 19 innings. The Chicago Cubs have been plagued by inconsistent play and mental mistake throughout the first half of the season. Chicago enters this series at four games above .500 overall and leads Milwaukee by a half-game for first place in the NL Central Division. All-Star SS Javier Baez leads the Cubs with 22 home runs and 62 RBIs.

Thirty-two year old righty Yu Darvish (2-4 5.01 ERA) will have to pitch better for Chicago to win a division title. The Cubs have lost Darvish’s last three starts and he has been tagged for 13 runs over his last 17 plus frames.