In the second of a four-game series between the Pittsburgh Pirates (6-7) and the Chicago Cubs (6-7) at PNC Park, Francisco Liriano (0-1, 2.08 ERA) and Travis Wood (1-1, 2.31 ERA) take the mound. The Cubs won the last game 5-2 and Chicago leads the series 1-0. The game starts at 7:05 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Apr. 21 and will air on WGN and ROOT-PIT.
Liriano is 4-2 with a 2.30 ERA and 1.02 WHIP against the Cubs in his career. Andrew McCutchen (.238, 7 Rs, 2 HRs, 10 RBIs) kept up his strong start yesterday, going 2 for 4 with one RBI. In his career against the Pirates, Wood is 5-7 with a 4.28 ERA. He gets a struggling Pittsburgh offense that’s batting just .216. Anthony Rizzo (.282, 8 Rs, 1 HR, 5 RBIs, 3 SBs) has been doing well to start the season for the Cubs, going 2 for 3 yesterday with one run and one stolen base.
Pittsburgh is a -159 favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is seven runs. When playing as the favorite, the Pirates have a 4-3 record and overall money line at -64. They have performed well against their division to earn an SU record of 5-4 and a 3-1 record when they were the favorite. The Pirates seem to play better against their division opponents, averaging 4.6 runs per game, well over their season average of 3.8. Turning to the pitching staff, the Pirates are second in the NL in hits allowed with just 6.9 per game. The have been extremely effective at striking opposing batters out, averaging 9.1 strikeouts per game.
On the other side, the Cubs have a nice record of 2-1 when they are the underdog and are +five overall with the money line. Against divisional opponents, they are 3-2 SU. Within their division, Chicago’s offense has been struggling. Chicago has averaged 3.2 runs per game, compared to 4.1 for the duration of the season. The Cubs have racked up 15 steals on the year, making them the most threatening base-running team in the league. Chicago’s pitching staff tends to perform well when they play division rivals. They’ve allowed an average of 2.4 runs per game against teams from the NL Central, lower than their season average of 3.9. They also allow just 2.1 walks per game, third-best in the NL. They also have some of the most overpowering arms in the NL with an average of 8.4 strikeouts per game.
So far this season, the Cubs are 1-0 against the Pirates.
Predictions: SU Winner – PIT, O/U – Over
Notes
Pittsburgh recorded at least two errors for the first time this season.
When the Cubs play into extra innings, they have a 3-0 record. The Pirates are 0-1 when their games exceed nine innings.
The Cubs are coming into this game after allowing zero walks during their last outing. The Pirates have a 2-3 record when opponents give up that many walks.
When they outhit their opponents, the Pirates are 6-1. The Cubs have a 3-0 record when outhitting opponents.
Both falling in the bottom half of the league based on total runs this season, Pittsburgh ranks 19th with 48 runs and Chicago is 17th with 50.
Ranking 28th, Pittsburgh is near the bottom of the league in walks, notching 24 this season. Chicago ranks in the top five at fifth with 46.
When the Pirates hit at least one home run, they are 6-3. When the Cubs hit at least one homer, they have a 5-1 record.
