Chicago Cubs (75-63) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (67-72) September 6, 2017 … PNC Park … Game No. 139 … Road Game No. 70 LHP José Quintana (5-3, 4.50) vs. RHP Gerrit Cole (11-9, 4.11) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: The Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates tonight CUBS VS. PIRATES continue their four-game set at PNC Park … the Cubs have dropped the first two CUBS RECORD The Cubs and Pirates play 19 games, games of this series to run their losing streak to three games, their longest skid in 2017 Overall: .......................................... 75-63 spanning six series, this season … the clubs nearly three months since a four-game drought from June 7-10. At Wrigley Field: .................................. 40-29 have met five times, with the Cubs winning © Starting tonight, the Cubs have precisely 12 home games and 12 road games On the Road: ........................................ 35-34 three out of the five series, including a remaining this season … the Cubs own the best home record (40-29) and are the April: ................................................. 13-11 three-game sweep at Wrigley Field last week only team with an above-.500 record on the road among N.L. Central clubs. May:.................................................. 12-16 … this four-game series against the Pirates in © Today marks the 16th day in a stretch in which the Cubs play 20 games in 20 June: ................................................. 15-13 Pittsburgh represents the final games the days through Sunday, and the Cubs have posted a 9-6 record during this period. July ...................................................... 16-8 clubs will play against each other this season © After tomorrow’s series finale in Pittsburgh, the Cubs return to Wrigley Field to August: ............................................. 17-12 … after going 14-4 against the Pirates last begin a nine-game homestand starting Friday night vs. Milwaukee. September: ........................................... 2-3 year, the Cubs have need to win today and THREE’S COMPANY: Since the All-Star Break, Kris Bryant is leading National League tomorrow to win this year’s series. third basemen in several categories with a .326 batting average (next closest is All-Time Since 1876: ................. 10,786-10,251 At Wrigley Field (since 1916): ......4,258-3,738 2017 Overall: .......................................... 8-9 Nolan Arenado at .314), a .420 on-base percentage (ahead of Eugenio Suarez, .413), At Wrigley Field: ............................ 4-5 15 doubles (Anthony Rendon, 14) and 38 runs scored (Suarez, 34). Leading Entering 6th: ............................ 54-10 At PNC Park: .................................. 4-4 © Bryant has reached base safely in his last 30 starts and is batting .344 (44-for- 128) with 1.046 OPS in his last 35 games starting July 29. Tied Entering 6th: .................................... 9-10 2016 Overall: ........................................ 14-4 Trailing Entering 6th: ............................. 12-43 At Wrigley Field: ............................ 8-1 YES WAY, JOSE: Cubs starter José Quintana ranks third among National League lefties with five wins since the All-Star Break, trailing only Arizona’s Patrick Corbin At PNC Park: .................................. 6-3 Leading Entering 7th: .............................. 58-6 (seven) and Washington’s Gio Gonzalez (six). Tied Entering 7th: ...................................... 8-9 All-Time Since 1887: ................. 1,206-1,270 Trailing Entering 7th: ............................... 9-48 At Wrigley Field: .................... 507-458 BREAKING UP: The Cubs are 32-18 (.640) since the All-Star Break, tied with the At PNC Park (since 2001): ......... 78-65 Washington Nationals for the third-best mark in baseball behind the Cleveland Indians (35-16, .686) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (31-17/.646). Leading Entering 8th: .............................. 66-7 CUBS ON DISABLED LIST (2) © Chicago entered the All-Star Break with a 5.5-game deficit to the Brewers, but Tied Entering 8th: ...................................... 5-6 have gained 9.0 games over Milwaukee since then and currently hold a 3.5- Trailing Entering 8th: ............................... 4-50 Player Date Date Games game advantage over the Brewers. (Injury) On Elig. Missed © The Cubs are 43-23 (.652) in September/October since Joe Maddon took the Leading Entering 9th: .............................. 65-1 INF Addison Russell 8/3 8/13 30 reins prior to the 2015 season, the best winning percentage in the majors in Tied Entering 9th: ...................................... 6-2 (Rt. Foot Strain, plantar fasciitis) that span (Cleveland is second at 41-25/.621). Trailing Entering 9th: ............................... 4-60 C Willson Contreras 8/11 8/20 24 (Rt. Hamstring Strain, 4-6 weeks) FIRST THINGS FIRST: The Cubs have spent each of the last 42 days atop the N.L. Scoring First: .......................................... 47-25 Central since waking up in first place on July 27 … they have been in sole possession One-Run Games: ................................... 20-15 N.L. CENTRAL STANDINGS of first place for 41 of those days. Two-Run Games: ................................... 12-15 1. Chicago Cubs 75-63 ---- © The Cubs were the first defending World Champions to be in first place in their Extra-Inning Games: .................................. 4-2 2. Milwaukee Brewers 72-67 -3.5 division on Labor Day in seven years since the 2010 New York Yankees held a Scoring Four or More: ........................... 65-17 3. St. Louis Cardinals 71-67 -4.0 2.5-game edge… the Cubs have the largest divisional lead by a defending Scoring Fewer Than Four: ....................... 10-46 4. Pittsburgh Pirates 67-72 -8.5 champion on Labor Day since the 2009 Phillies had a 6.5-game edge. Out-Hitting Opponents: ......................... 55-12 5. Cincinnati Reds 60-79 -15.5 © The two most-recent defending World Champions were 9.5-games out (the Hit Totals Equal: ...................................... 10-6 2016 Kansas City Royals) and 7.5-games out (the 2015 San Francisco Giants) of Out-Hit by Opponents: .......................... 10-45 CONSECUTIVE SAVE CHANCES CONVERTED, first place on Labor Day in their respective divisions while the 2014 Boston Red Hit at Least One HR: .............................. 62-34 CUBS FRANCHISE HISTORY Sox were in last place and faced a 19.5-game deficit. Hit Two or More HR: ............................. 43-14 1. Wade Davis 28 4/4/17-current WHAT LIES AHEAD: Of the 24 games remaining for the Cubs this season, 16 are Playing Errorless Ball: ............................ 46-26 2. Ryan Dempster 26 8/2/05-5/1/06 against teams with a .500 record or better and eight are against sub-.500 clubs … Committing at Least One Error: ............ 29-37 3. Hector Rondon 22 8/14/15-6/6/16 the Cubs are in a stretch of 24-straight games against teams with a sub-.500 mark … the Cubs do not play a club currently with a Joe Borowski 22 8/5/03-5/23/04 winning record until returning home to play Milwaukee on Friday. © Starting today, the Cubs play 19 of their final 24 games against N.L. Central division foes, or 79 percent of them … the Cubs are 33- RUNS SCORED SINCE ASB 24 vs. the N.L. Central, a .579 winning percentage, the best intra-divisional record of any N.L. Central team (the Brewers at 28-28 and Reds at 30-30 are tied for second-best). 1. Chicago Cubs ................................. 296 © Chicago has just two days off the rest of the way … next Monday, September 11 and the following Monday, September 18. 2. Baltimore Orioles .............................287 3. Minnesota Twins ..............................275 PLATING RUNS AT A RAPID RATE: Starting August 1, the Cubs have averaged 6.2 runs per game (211 runs in 34 games), 1.5 runs better 4. Cleveland Indians .............................273 than the team’s 4.7 runs per contest in the first four months (484 runs in 104 games). 5. St. Louis Cardinals ............................258 © The Cubs have scored 695 runs this season, third-most in the N.L. behind Washington (718 runs) and Colorado (702 runs). © The Cubs lead the N.L. and rank second in the majors with a +81 run differential since the Break, trailing only Cleveland (+112). MOST HOME RUNS SINCE ASB 30 2B, 30 HR, 100 RBI: Anthony Rizzo last weekend hit a three-run triple in the fourth inning to give him 100 RBI on the season and 1. Baltimore Orioles ...............................93 reach 30 doubles, 30 homers and 100 RBI for the third-straight campaign, this year doing so before Labor Day … he’s only the fourth 2. Chicago Cubs ................................... 80 Cub ever to reach those thresholds in at least three seasons, joining Hack Wilson (4 times, 1927-30), Billy Williams (3 times, 1965, 1970, Texas Rangers ....................................80 1972) and Sammy Sosa (3 times, 1997, 2000-01) … Rizzo and Wilson are the lone Cubs to do so in at least three-straight seasons. 4. Cleveland Indians ...............................76 © Rizzo was one of four players to reach 30 homers, 30 doubles and 100 RBI by Labor Day, joining Paul Goldschmidt, Jonathan Schoop 5. Toronto Blue Jays ...............................75 and Nolan Arenado. © Overall, Rizzo is the ninth Cub ever to reach 100 RBI in a season at least three times, and the second left-handed hitter to do so, MOST HOME RUNS, N.L. STARTING IN 2013 joining Billy Williams. 1. Giancarlo Stanton ............................168 GLOVE LOVE: Anthony Rizzo enters today with a career-high 116-game errorless streak at first base