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Pirates host struggling Cubs on Friday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 7/8/2016  at  3:53:00 PM
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CHICAGO CUBS (52-33)

at PITTSBURGH PIRATES (44-42)

First pitch: Friday, 7:00 p.m. ET
Line: Chicago -160, Pittsburgh +150, Total: 7.5

The Cubs will be looking to avoid losing their fourth straight game when they face the Pirates on Friday.

Chicago has really struggled recently, losing three straight games and seven of its past eight. One thing the team is really struggling to do is hit. The Cubs have scored three or less runs in six of those games and the lineup will need to be a lot better than that moving forward. There is plenty of firepower on the team, so it’s unacceptable to be scoring that little. The Pirates, meanwhile, are playing some of their best baseball of the season. They’re coming off of a 5-1 loss to the Cardinals on Thursday, but they have still won 10 of their past 13 games. Pittsburgh desperately needed to rattle off some victories in order to stay alive in the hunt for the postseason. This game will feature some studs on the mound, as RHP Jake Arrieta (12-3, 2.33 ERA, 115 K) will be pitching for the Cubs and LHP Francisco Liriano (5-8, 5.34 ERA, 85 K) will be out there for the Pirates. Chicago will be confident coming into this game, as the team is 8-1 against Pittsburgh on the year. The team is also lucky to have Arrieta on the mound and he is 22-2 against the money line as a road favorite of -110 or higher over the past two seasons. Liriano has been no slouch himself though, going 16-1 against the money line in the second half of the season over the past two seasons.

Jake Arrieta is set to be on the mound for the Cubs on Friday and he has not pitched very well recently. Over his past two starts, Arrieta has allowed nine earned runs on 12 hits in 10.1 innings of work. He has walked seven betters over those two games and must find a way to throw his pitches over the plate in this one. Fortunately for Arrieta, he has dominated the Pirates on the season. In three outings against Pittsburgh, Arrieta has allowed just two earned runs over 21.0 innings of work. He has truck out 27 batters in those games as well, so he’ll be happy to be out there against this lineup on Friday. Some guys worth keeping an eye on in the Cubs’ lineup are 2B Ben Zobrist (.290, 12 HR, 45 RBI) and 3B Kris Bryant (.277, 25 HR, 64 RBI). Both players have had some success against Liriano in their careers, as Zobrist is 5-for-20 with six RBI against the lefty and Bryant is 4-for-9 with two doubles, a homer and four RBI in the matchup. Bryant also happens to be playing very well coming into this one, as he has homered four times over the past eight games.

Francisco Liriano has had some trouble recently, allowing four or more earned runs in five of his past seven starts. The lefty has also failed to pitch more than six innings in nine of his past 10 outings. If he cannot find his groove again soon then it’s going to be very difficult for the Pirates to get themselves back into playoff contention. It also doesn’t help that Liriano has really struggled against the Cubs this season, going 0-2 with a 10.45 ERA in two starts against the team. He will need to keep his walks down on Friday, as he has walked nine batters in his two starts against Chicago on the year. Offensively, Pittsburgh could use some production from both OF Matt Joyce (.299, 8 HR, 27 RBI) and OF Andrew McCutchen (.238, 12 HR, 32 RBI). The two of them are a combined 16-for-51 with a homer and five RBI against Arrieta in their careers. They have also combined for five doubles and it’d be big if they can get some extra base hits in this one. McCutchen has been a disappointment all year for Pittsburgh, but he can really give his team a boost by coming on strong in the second half of the season.


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