Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 14, 2016 ) Pittsburgh 2, Philadelphia 6

The Pittsburgh Pirates are no longer a realistic contender for a National League postseason berth due to the way they have played over the last few weeks, but a winning season is still a possibility. The Pirates will try to escape with a split of a four-game series when they visit the Philadelphia Phillies for the finale on Thursday.

Pittsburgh was right in the thick of the wild card race along with San Francisco, St. Louis and the New York Mets after improving to 67-61 with a win on Aug. 28, but has since gone 3-13 to fall four games under .500. The Pirates, who are six games behind the Mets for the second NL wild card, have seven contests left on the 11-game trip after Thursday's finale before heading home to face division leaders Washington and the Chicago Cubs. The Phillies are looking for positives as the season grinds to a close and continue to get encouraging performances from the younger players on the roster. Shortstop Freddy Galvis, who at 26 is one of the older players in the regular lineup this month, has homered in three of the last four games and hit safely in seven straight.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), CSN Philadelphia

PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Chad Kuhl (3-3, 4.09 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Jerad Eickhoff (10-13, 3.73)

Kuhl is 0-3 in his last four starts and had his last turn in the rotation skipped after an abbreviated outing against St. Louis on Sept. 5. The 24-year-old rookie allowed three runs on four hits and three walks in two innings to suffer the loss. Kuhl is making his first career start against Philadelphia and is 1-1 with a 2.76 ERA in five road starts.

Eickhoff is pitching well down the stretch and turned in one of his best performances at Washington on Saturday, when he scattered five hits over six scoreless innings without factoring in the decision. The 26-year-old recorded a quality start in each of his last four outings and is 2-1 in that span. Eickhoff is seeing the Pirates for the first time and is 5-6 with a 3.35 ERA in 14 home starts.

WALK-OFFS

1. Pirates LF Starling Marte (back spasms) has missed the last nine games but could return this weekend.

2. Philadelphia rookie CF Roman Quinn, who made his major-league debut on Sunday, is 6-for-12 with three doubles in the series.

3. Pittsburgh 1B Sean Rodriguez drove in five runs in the first three games of the series.

PREDICTION: Pirates 5, Phillies 4