Chicago Cubs vs Pittsburgh Pirates Predictions

The Pittsburgh Pirates are just 2-6 so far this season, but both of those wins are against the Chicago Cubs. Pittsburgh has really had issues at the plate, but they finally broke through for eight runs in Saturday’s contest against Chicago which resulted in an 8-2 win. Seven of those runs came in the second inning, and the Pirates were finally able to score more than five runs in a game this season. It was their best offensive output of the young season, but can they keep that going into Sunday’s contest?

The Cubs will send Trevor Williams to the mound looking to secure the series victory, and he looked very sharp in his first outing. Williams gave up two runs and just two hits in six innings of work against Milwaukee. Much like Pittsburgh, Chicago has also struggled at the plate, but their lineup has much more potential and should perform at a higher level throughout the course of the season. The Cubs lost to the Pirates on Opening Day, but came back to take two out of three and win the series. This current series is split 1-1, but Chicago should be able to pickup another series win against a Pittsburgh team that figures to have a long season ahead of them. Take Chicago.

Both of these teams have struggled mightily at the plate so far in this early 2021 season. Going into Saturday’s game, Pittsburgh’s .202 batting average was 25th in the league, while Chicago’s average of .157 was dead-last in all of baseball. Pittsburgh may have generated eight runs on Saturday, but it doesn’t seem like that will be a common occurrence for them this season. As mentioned, Williams looked sharp in his first outing, and he should be able to limit Pittsburgh’s offensive success in this one. Pittsburgh starter JT Brubaker held the red-hot Cincinnati Reds relatively in check in his first outing, striking out six and allowing just one run in four innings of work. Chicago’s lineup is nowhere near as dangerous right now, and both teams have played a lot of low-scoring games this season, so take the under here.