Chicago @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 9, 2016 ) Chi. Cubs 6, Pittsburgh 12

The Chicago Cubs were the darlings of baseball for the first two-plus months of the regular season but look like the team most in need of a break as they limp toward All-Star week. The Cubs will try to snap a five-game slide and turn the momentum a bit when they visit the Pittsburgh Pirates in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday.

Chicago has lost nine of 10 contests and 15 of the last 20 – a stretch that began after the team moved to 47-20 with a three-game sweep of the Pirates from June 17-19. The Cubs are trying to plug holes in the rotation and in the bullpen with an average of 7.4 runs allowed in the last 10 games – culminating with a 12-6 loss on Saturday in which All-Star left-hander Jon Lester was ripped for five runs in three innings. The Pirates are riding a youth wave led by top prospects Tyler Glasnow and Josh Bell, who contributed a pair of key pinch hits in the last two games. Bell belted his first career home run on Saturday when he came on in the fifth inning and sent a grand slam out to right field.

TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago), ROOT (Pittsburgh)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cubs RH John Lackey (7-5, 3.50 ERA) vs. LH Jonathon Niese (7-6, 4.87)

Lackey is a big part of Chicago’s recent pitching struggles and was rocked for six runs – five earned – on six hits and five walks over six innings against Cincinnati on Tuesday. The veteran Texan has seen his ERA rise from 2.66 to 3.50 over the last four starts with 17 earned runs allowed in 22 2/3 innings in that span. Lackey went 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA in three starts against Pittsburgh as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals last season.

Niese is rumored to be on the trade block and put on a good show for the scouts when he snapped a four-start losing streak by limiting the Cardinals to one run in 5 2/3 innings on Monday. The 29-year-old had an MRI on his ailing left knee on Tuesday come back with no structural damage and moved through the week without an issue. Niese was ripped for four runs on six hits – three home runs – on 5 1/3 innings at Chicago on June 18.

WALK-OFFS

1. Pirates 2B Josh Harrison (left foot) and OF Matt Joyce (left quad) both left Saturday’s game and are day-to-day.

2. Cubs CF Dexter Fowler (hamstring) will not play in Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

3. Chicago C David Ross (concussion) could return after the All-Star break.

PREDICTION: Cubs 8, Pirates 6