 escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and allowed three hits and four walks over six innings. He improved to 6-1 with a 1.71 ERA in his last eight starts.Steve Cishek, Carl Edwards Jr. and Jesse Chavez followed, with Chavez pitching the ninth for his fourth save in five chances with Chicago.Chicago (93-66) hosts St. Louis (87-72) in the final series starting Friday while Milwaukee (92-67) is at home against Detroit. The Cardinals (87-72) trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by one game for the second wild-card berth.The Cubs' win means the NL Central champion, Chicago or Milwaukee, will finish with the league's best record and will play the winner of Tuesday's wild-card game. East champion Atlanta will play the West champion, Colorado or the Dodgers.Trevor Williams (14-10) gave up all three runs, eight hits and three walks in five innings. He had been 4-0 in six starts since losing to the Cubs on Aug. 17 and is 7-3 with a 1.38 ERA since the All-Star break.Bote started at third base in place of Kris Bryant, who missed his second game with a sore left wrist after getting hit by a pitch by Chris Archer on Tuesday.Lester singled in the fourth and scored on Daniel Murphy's single.WHAT IF?If the Cubs and Brewers finish tied for first, the Cubs would host an NL Central tiebreaker game Monday because Chicago won the season series 11-8.CROWDSThe crowd of 38,415 pushed the Cubs season attendance at Wrigley Field over the 3 million mark for the third straight season.RETURN OF KANGThe Pirates expect INF Jung Ho Kang to join the club Friday and be active for a season-ending series at Cincinnati in what would be his first major league appearance in two years. Kang, who plays third base and shortstop, hit .273 with 36 homers and 120 RBIs in 229 games for the Pirates in 2015 and 2016,The 31-year-old didn't play in North America between September 2016 and June 2018 because of visa issues connected to three DUI arrests his native South Korea.TRAINER'S ROOMPirates: OF Jordan Luplow underwent an appendectomy Thursday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The 24-year-old appeared in 37 games this season.Cubs: Manager Joe Maddon said Bryant could start Friday against St. Louis. Bryant, the 2016 NL MVP, had two stints on the disabled list this season because of left shoulder inflammation.UP NEXTPirates: RHP Nick Kingham (5-7, 5.23) starts Friday at Cincinnati against RHP Anthony DeSclafani (7-7, 4.91).Cubs: RHP Kyle Hendricks (13-11, 3.49) opens the series against the Cardinals vs. RHP Adam Wainwright (2-3, 4.08.) In his last six starts, Hendricks is 4-1 with a 1.37 ERA.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Cubs sticking with it, seek series split with Pirates 3h ago 2 min read CHICAGO -- Just when it appeared the Chicago Cubs' offense had run out of bats with the two-time defending National League Central Division champions on the verge of falling out of first place, the Cubs showed their sticks still have some life.A 7-6, extra-inning victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday capped by Albert Almora, Jr.'s two-out single in the 10th inning allowed the Cubs to preserve their half-game margin for the divisional lead. The Cubs will attempt to move closer to their third straight Central crown when they wrap up their four-game series against the Pirates on Thursday.The Cubs also clinched a playoff berth Wednesday.The seven-run explosion arrived after the Cubs had struggled to score runs against the Pirates. After dropping the first two games of the series when the Cubs managed only two runs, Chicago gave its pitching staff some run support and pulled out the win after the bullpen blew a 6-1 lead."There's no pressure, no panic," Almora said in a postgame televised interview.Now, they'll look to continue the trend Thursday."If we could just get on the board early, that would be very helpful," Cubs manager Joe Maddon told reporters Wednesday."If we get a chance to get on (Pirates) starters early, we need to do that because they seem to get better games in progress." With a win Thursday, the Cubs will earn a series split and create a bit more distance between themselves and the idle second-place Milwaukee Brewers, who clinched their first playoff berth since 2011 on Wednesday. Milwaukee finished off a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 2-1 victory Wednesday.The Cubs hope to get third baseman Kris Bryant back in the lineup after Bryant missed Wednesday's game with a sore wrist. Bryant left Tuesday night's game after being hit by a pitch and sustaining a wrist contusion. Maddon told reporters that the swelling wasn't as bad as expected, but that it was enough to keep Bryant from playing.Jon Lester (17-6, 3.43 ERA) takes the mound hoping to give the Cubs some momentum heading into another tough test this weekend against the Cardinals. Lester has won three of his four September starts and has allowed five earned runs in the four outings. Lester is 8-6 with 3.38 ERA in 17 career starts against the Pirates, including 3-1, 3.72 in five outings this season.Trevor Williams (14-9, 3.04) will take the mound for the Pirates. Williams has also been impressive throughout September and has won three of his four starts with a no-decision. Williams has not allowed an earned run in three of his four starts and has struck out seven in each of his past two outings. Williams is 2-3 with a 3.41 ERA in seven career outings (five starts) against the Cubs, including 1-1, 1.38 in two turns this season.Williams has been among the Pirates' most effective performers in the second half but has done so while not gaining much notoriety for his efforts. While he isn't flashy or doesn't overpower hitters with his approach, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said Williams is one to simply get the job done."It's pitchability, it's pitch execution," Hurdle told reporters earlier this month, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "He's hitting spots. He's throwing his fastball where he wants. He's changing speeds. And it's really hard to hit. He's getting it done the old-fashioned way. He's flat-out pitching."
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Chicago Cubs
Pick Center
MLB
FINAL (9/27/2018)
LightningPlays
