Pirates at Cubs 9/26/18 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Pittsburgh Pirates play the third game of a four-game series on the road Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs. The Pirates beat the Cubs in Monday 5-1 in the series opener as Jameson Taillon outpitched Cole Hamels and Francisco Cervelli belted a two-run home run for the Pirates. The Pirates have now won three of the last five and are closing in on securing a .500 or better season.

The Cubs must wait one more day to clinch a postseason berth with the loss and saw the lead in the National League Central over second place Milwaukee shrink to 1 ½ games. Hamels’ record with the Cubs fell to 4-2, after losing for the second straight start following four straight wins after joining the Cubs in a trade with Texas. Hamels allowed just two earned runs in six innings. Corey Dickerson leads the Pirates with a .296 batting average. Starling Marte has a team high 148 hits. Gregory Polanco is the team leader in home runs with 23 and in RBIs with 81, but is lost for the season with a shoulder injury. Pittsburgh has a team batting average of .254 while opposing hitters are averaging .250 at the plate against Pirates pitching. On Wednesday, the Pirates will send Ivan Nova to the mound. The right-hander this season is 9-9 with an ERA of 4.01, 111 Ks and 33 BBs.

Ben Zobrist leads the Cubs with a .311 batting average. Javier Baez leads the team in home runs with 34, RBIs with 110 and hits with 169. Chicago has a team batting average of .259 while opposing hitters are averaging .240 at the plate against Cubs pitching. On Wednesday, the Cubs will send Jose Quintana to the mound. The lefthander this season is 13-11 with an ERA of 4.11, 150 Ks and 68 BBs.