Pirates bring 2-1 series advantage over Cubs into game 4

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Chicago Cubs (30-26, third in the NL Central) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (29-27, fifth in the NL Central)

Pittsburgh; Thursday, 6:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Colin Rea (4-3, 4.83 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 44 strikeouts); Pirates: Paul Skenes (6-4, 3.00 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 65 strikeouts)

LINE: Pirates -173, Cubs +145; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates lead 2-1 in a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs.

Pittsburgh has a 15-14 record in home games and a 29-27 record overall. Pirates hitters are batting a collective .252, which ranks third in the NL.

Chicago has gone 12-15 on the road and 30-26 overall. Cubs hitters are batting a collective .238, which ranks 10th in the NL.

The teams meet Thursday for the seventh time this season. The Pirates are up 4-2 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Oneil Cruz has 10 doubles and 11 home runs for the Pirates. Spencer Horwitz is 11 for 32 with three home runs over the last 10 games.

Nico Hoerner has 13 doubles and four home runs for the Cubs. Carson Kelly is 12 for 32 with two doubles and four RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 5-5, .259 batting average, 3.68 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs

Cubs: 1-9, .200 batting average, 5.72 ERA, outscored by 29 runs

INJURIES: Pirates: Chris Devenski: 15-Day IL (illness), Jared Jones: 60-Day IL (elbow), Joey Bart: 10-Day IL (foot infection), Ryan O'Hearn: 10-Day IL (quadricep)

Cubs: Edward Cabrera: 15-Day IL (finger), Justin Steele: 60-Day IL (elbow), Christopher Austin: 60-Day IL (knee), Matt Shaw: 10-Day IL (back), Hunter Harvey: 60-Day IL (tricep), Matthew Boyd: 15-Day IL (knee), Riley Martin: 15-Day IL (elbow), Porter Hodge: 60-Day IL (elbow), Shelby Miller: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cade Horton: 60-Day IL (forearm)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.