The Pirates will be glad to get off the road after being swept by the Mets, and pummeled by the Yankees. They are up against the Cubs, and the pair of teams are underachieving on offense. The Pirates’ bullpen was also savaged by the Yankees. Keller starts for the Pirates and has an ERA of 3.50 over his last 7 games. He has thrown 4 straight quality starts, all 6 innings or over with 2 shutouts mixed in, but the Pirates have only won 2 of those starts. Don’t count on much support from the Pirates’ relievers today. They have walked off the plank with regularity lately.

The Cubs are 5-5 lately and haven’t scored a ton of runs, but they are hitting right handers better than the Pirates. Their pitching, both the starters and relievers, has been solid of late. Rookie Wesneski starts for the second time. This youngster has great stuff and rolled off 7 innings of 1 run 7 strikeout ball in Colorado in his first start. I don’t usually bank on rookies until proven, but the combination of Wesneski and a better bullpen should sway the game in the Cubs’ favor today. Take the underdog Cubs to win on the road.