The Chicago Cubs won another series in Detroit over this week but were still unable to pick up any games on the first place Milwaukee Brewers. Now the Cubs head to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates. This is the fourth series in a row the Cubs will play against a team under .500. They split with the Chicago White Sox, won two out of three from the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers. A sweep here would be really big for the Cubs before the aforementioned Brewers come to Wrigley Field next week.

Pittsburgh started the year off scorching hot. They had a double-digit game lead in the National League Central at one point this season. Now they are 13 games under .500 and 13 games out in the division, but they did just win a series against the hapless St. Louis Cardinals.

One big question heading into this series is who will start for the Cubs on Sunday. They currently have Drew Smyly listed, but there has to be a better option out there for them. That better option could be Jordan Wicks who was scratched from his start at Iowa earlier this week and not because of an injury. Wicks was the Cubs 2021 first-round pick.

The bats heated up again for the Cubs in Detroit. Seiya Suzuki continued his hot streak going 5-10 in the series. The offense is so much deeper when Suzuki is hitting well. It also give David Ross so many more options to play match-ups later in games.

Probable pitchers:

Thursday, August 24th: 6:05 PM at PNC Park

Justin Steele (14-3 2.80 ERA) vs. Andre Jackson (0-1 5.28 ERA)

Friday, August 25th: 6:05 PM at PNC Park

Kyle Hendricks (5-6 3.83 ERA) vs. Mitch Keller (10-8 4.22)

Saturday, August 26th: 6:15 PM at PNC Park

Javier Assad (2-2 3.13 ERA) vs. Osvaldo Bido (2-4 5.08 ERA)

Sunday, August 27th: 12:35 PM at PNC Park

Drew Smyly (9-9 5.28 ERA) vs. Bailey Falter (1-7 4.53 ERA)

NL Central Standings:

Milwaukee Brewers 70-57

Chicago Cubs 67-60 3.5 GB

Cincinnati Reds 67-61 3.5 GB

Pittsburgh Pirates 57-70 13 GB

St. Louis Cardinals 56-72 14.5 GB