Keller and the Pirates seek revenge on the Cubs in game one in Pittsburgh

The Pirates begin their last week of the 2019 season playing host at 7:05 p.m. Eastern to a Chicago Cubs team which has stumbled nearly as badly as of late, losing six games in a row as they stand on the brink of elimination. The Pirates will start rookie right-hander Mitch Keller (1-5, 7.74), who’ll face the Cubs’ veteran righty Kyle Hendricks (11-9, 3.37)

The Cubs enter tonight’s game in third place and out of contention for the division title, but clinging to life, four games behind Milwaukee for the second wild card spot with six to play.

The soft tossing Hendricks has faced the Pirates three previous times this year, losing both on July 2 and August 16 in Pittsburgh before posting a 14-1 victory in Chicago on September 14.

Hendricks has been equally tough against batters on both sides of the plate, allowing a .712 OPS to right-handers on a 261/295/417 line, with a .671 mark against lefties (237/289/382).

Keller, the International league Pitcher of the Year with a 7-5 record and 3.56 ERA in 19 starts in Triple-A, has not done nearly as well for the Pirates, allowing a 7.74 ERA and .480 BABIP in ten starts, despite striking out 12.1 batters every nine innings.

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CUBS

1 L Anthony Rizzo 1B

2 R Nicholas Castellanos RF

3 S Ben Zobrist 2B

4 L Kyle Schwarber LF

5 R Willson Contreras C

6 S Ian Happ 3B

7 L Jason Heyward CF

8 R Nico Hoerner SS

9 R Kyle Hendricks RHP

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PIRATES

1 R Kevin Newman SS

2 S Bryan Reynolds CF

3 L Adam Frazier 2B

4 R Jose Osuna 1B

5 L Colin Moran 3B

6 R Jacob Stallings C

7 L Kevin Kramer RF

8 R Erik Gonzalez LF

9 R Mitch Keller RHP