The Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs meet Friday in MLB action at Wrigley Field. The Pittsburgh Pirates look for a win after splitting their last 12 games. The Chicago Cubs look to snap a three-game losing streak.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have scored eight runs in their last three games and four or more runs in four of their last eight games. The Pirates are 6-0 this season when scoring four or more runs. Ke’Bryan Hayes leads the Pirates with 15 hits and 4 RBI, while Daniel Vogelbach and Bryan Reynolds have combined for 23 hits and 8 RBI. Jose Quintana gets the ball, and he is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA and 5 strikeouts this season. Quintana is 0-4 with a 3.41 ERA and 24 strikeouts in his career against the Cubs.

The Chicago Cubs have scored 10 runs in their last three games and four or more runs in six of their last eight games. The Cubs are 5-4 this season when scoring four or more runs. Ian Happ leads the Cubs with 12 hits and 6 RBI, while Frank Schwindel and Seiya Suzuki have combined for 24 hits and 20 RBI. Drew Smyly gets the ball, and he is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 5 strikeouts this season. Smyly is 2-1 with a 4.01 ERA and 32 strikeouts in his career against the Pirates.

The Pirates are 15-48 in their last 63 road games and 2-5 in their last 7 during game 2 of a series. The Cubs are 11-27 in their last 38 home games and 1-11 in their last 12 Friday games. The under is 2-0-2 in Pirates last 4 overall. The over is 19-9-1 in Cubs last 29 overall. The Pirates are 14-37 in the last 51 meetings in Chicago and 2-10 in the last 12 meetings.

I need to see more from Quintana before jumping on him with confidence, and he did pitch for the Cubs a couple of years ago, so this team should have an idea of what to expect. Don’t look now, but Smyly is dealing through his first 9.2 innings, allowing seven hits and zero runs while striking out five and walking just one. The Cubs are also due for a bounce back performance, and home day games usually bring energy. Give me the Cubs.