Pittsburgh @ Chicago preview
Wrigley Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 7, 2010 ) Chi. Cubs 6, Pittsburgh 1
The good news for the Chicago Cubs is that they host the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates for a three-game series, which starts Monday at Wrigley Field.
The bad news for the Cubs is that - as bad as they have been - the Pirates are due for a win.
With interleague play finished for the season, the Cubs host the reeling Pirates, who are having a horrible month of June.
Pittsburgh can't catch a break and has lost six straight overall and 17 in a row on the road. The Pirates have already endured a 12-game losing skid this month and are 0-6 on their current nine-game road trip. They have been swept by the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics in consecutive three-game series.
On Sunday, the Pirates could not catch a foul ball and the A's took advantage.
Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki hit a home run with two outs in the eighth inning after hitting a foul pop-up that Pittsburgh catcher Jason Jaramillo dropped for an error. Two pitches later, Suzuki homered to lift the A's to a 3-2 victory.
At 25-50, the Pirates have the most losses in the National League and are already 16.5 games out of first place in the NL Central. They have had tons of trouble getting wins anywhere, but especially on the road where they are an NL-worst 9-31.
Pittsburgh's road swoon began on May 26 and is the longest the franchise has had since it lost 19 straight in 1985.
The Cubs just lost two of three to the cross-town rival White Sox but did end their rivals' 11-game win streak with an 8-6 victory on Sunday.
The series featured another meltdown by pitcher Carlos Zambrano on Friday, when he and first baseman Derrek Lee got into a confrontation in the dugout after the end of the first inning. Zambrano has been suspended indefinitely by the Cubs.
Zambrano's outburst is just another distraction for the Cubs, who are mired in a frustrating season thus far. Just 4-6 in its last 10 games, Chicago is nine games under .500 and 8.5 behind in the division.
Randy Wells (3-6, 5.21 ERA) gets the start for the Cubs on Monday. Wells has lost his last six decisions and does not have a win since defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 30.
Making his fifth career start against the Pirates, Wells in 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA vs. Pittsburgh in his career.
Looking to stop the Pirates' road slide is started Paul Maholm (4-6, 4.24).
Maholm has just one win in his last seven starts, but does have a history of beating the Cubs. In 11 career starts against Chicago, Maholm is 6-1 despite a whopping ERA of 6.29.