The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs meet Wednesday in MLB action from Wrigley Field. This will be the second matchup in a three-game series. In the Tuesday opener, the Cubs kicked things off with a blowout victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.

Pittsburgh Pirates 

The Pirates took on the Yankees over the weekend, losing the first two games in that series before a 3-2 win on Sunday to stave off the sweep. In the Tuesday opener versus the Cubs, Pittsburgh was down 5-0 after three innings and it only got worse from there in a rough 14-1 defeat. Ke’Bryan Hayes had the only RBI with a solo homer. 

Mitch Keller will make the start for the Pirates on Wednesday. Keller is 12-9 with a 4.04 ERA and 198 strikeouts so far. 

Pittsburgh Pirates Team Facts

The Pirates have won each of their last nine games as underdogs against National League opponents following a road loss.
The Pirates have covered the run line in each of their last 10 games as underdogs against National League opponents following a road loss.
The Pirates have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last five games at Wrigley Field.
The Pirates have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last three road games against NL Central opponents.
The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Pirates’ last four night games.

Chicago Cubs

Over on the Cubs’ side, they had a rough time versus the Diamondbacks over the weekend, falling in a three-game sweep. In the 6-2 loss Sunday Chicago got a lone RBI from Mike Tauchman. On Tuesday the Cubs bagged eight runs in the eighth inning alone on the way to 12 team hits. Alexander Canario had a whopping five RBI (including a grand slam) and Cody Bellinger added three more. 

Justin Steele will take the mound for the Cubs on Wednesday. Over his 28 starts this year Steele is 16-4 with a 2.73 ERA and 164 Ks in 165.0 innings. Steele is 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA over his last seven starts. 

Chicago Cubs Team Facts

The Cubs have lost each of their last four games as favorites after playing the previous day.
The home team has covered the run line in each of the Cubs’ last eight games.
The Cubs have won the first inning in each of their last three home games against NL Central opponents.
The Cubs have trailed after 5 innings in four of their last six games as favorites against National League opponents.
The Cubs have led after 7 innings in each of their last five games against the Pirates at Wrigley Field.

Matchup/League Facts

The Chicago Cubs rank 6th in the league for on-base percentage this season (.329).
The Chicago Cubs rank 6th in the league for walks this season (527).
The Pittsburgh Pirates rank 28th in the league for hits this season (1183).
The Pittsburgh Pirates rank 27th in the league for home runs this season (147).

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll likely stick with the Cubs. Steele needs a better effort than his last start, though. On September 15 versus Arizona, Steele took the loss with six earned in 6.0 innings on seven hits and two walks. In two starts prior to that however, Steele was 1-0 with just one earned in 15.0 innings. I like him to post a quality start here. On Tuesday in the opener, Chicago was firing on all cylinders offensively, as eight different players had at least one hit. The Cubs have four or more runs in three of their last four games and I don’t think they’ll let off the gas pedal in game two.