The Chicago Cubs will try to avoid their longest skid in 15 years when they begin a three-game road series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday. Entering with a nine-game losing streak, Chicago has not dropped 10 in a row since kicking off the 1997 season with 14 straight losses. The Cubs have a good chance at ending their slide, however, as they have won five of the last seven meetings between the NL Central rivals.
Pittsburgh's punchless offense also figures to make things easier for Chicago. The Pirates have scored a major league-low 126 runs and have crossed the plate a total of six times in their last four losses. The club, which has lost three of four, has scored fewer than two runs 14 times this season.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, CSN Plus (Chicago), Root Sports (Pittsburgh)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cubs RH Ryan Dempster (0-2, 2.28 ERA) vs. Pirates RH A.J. Burnett (2-2, 4.78 ERA)
Dempster still is searching for his first victory of the season despite allowing two runs or less in five of his seven starts. The veteran has yielded four runs in each of his last two outings, including a loss to the Chicago White Sox in which he surrendered seven hits over six innings. Dempster is 8-12 with a 5.57 ERA in 49 career games against the Pirates, including 24 starts.
With the exception of a disastrous outing at St. Louis on May 2 in which he allowed 12 runs and 12 hits in just 2 2/3 innings, Burnett has been fantastic in his first year with Pittsburgh, yielding two runs or less in each of his other five starts. The 35-year-old is coming off a victory at Detroit on Saturday, when he gave up two runs in six innings. Burnett has yet to lose to the Cubs in his career, going 4-0 with a 4.06 ERA in five outings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Pittsburgh owns a National League-worst .217 team batting average. Andrew McCutchen (.338) is one of just three Pirates hitting over .203.
2. Dempster has the best ERA for a pitcher without a win in his first seven starts since Whitey Ford of the New York Yankees posted a 2.03 ERA with a record of 0-3 in 1966.
3. The Pirates have received very little help from their bench thus far as the team's pinch hitters have a .132 (7-for-53) average, the worst mark in the NL.