Williams scheduled to start for Pittsburgh against Chicago
Chicago Cubs (45-39, first in the NL Central) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (39-43, fourth in the NL Central)
Pittsburgh; Monday, 7 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Adbert Alzolay (1-0, 2.08 ERA, .92 WHIP, 9 strikeouts) Pirates: Trevor Williams (2-2, 4.25 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 53 strikeouts)
LINE: Cubs favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE:
The Pirates are 13-16 against the rest of their division. The Pittsburgh offense has compiled a .265 batting average as a team this season, good for seventh in the National League. Bryan Reynolds leads the team with an average of .360.
The Cubs are 16-23 on the road. The Chicago pitching staff owns a team ERA of 3.98, Yu Darvish paces the staff with a mark of 4.98. This is the first meeting of the season for these two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Bell leads the Pirates with 94 hits and is batting .301. Corey Dickerson is 10-for-28 with six doubles, a home run and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.
Javier Baez leads the Cubs with 43 extra base hits and is slugging .546. Jason Heyward is 14-for-33 with three doubles, a triple, four home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games for Chicago.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 7-3, .297 batting average, 3.54 ERA, outscored opponents by 22 runs
Cubs: 4-6, .252 batting average, 4.60 ERA, outscored by two runs
Pirates Injuries: Jameson Taillon: 60-day IL (elbow), Edgar Santana: 60-day IL (elbow), Chad Kuhl: 60-day IL (elbow), Keone Kela: 60-day IL (shoulder), Rookie Davis: 10-day IL (finger/forearm), Nick Burdi: 60-day IL (biceps), Chris Archer: day-to-day (hip), Gregory Polanco: 10-day IL (shoulder), Lonnie Chisenhall: 60-day IL (finger), Erik Gonzalez: 60-day IL (collarbone), Francisco Cervelli: 10-day IL (concussion).
Cubs Injuries: Allen Webster: 60-day IL (hand), Brandon Morrow: 60-day IL (elbow), Kyle Hendricks: 10-day IL (shoulder), Cole Hamels: 10-day IL (oblique), Kendall Graveman: 60-day IL (elbow), Carl Edwards Jr.: 10-day IL (shoulder), Xavier Cedeno: 10-day IL (wrist).
