Chicago Cubs vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction 9-19-23 MLB Picks

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs meet Tuesday in MLB action from Wrigley Field. The Pirates are coming off a weekend series versus the Yankees, losing two of three games. As for Chicago, they played the Diamondbacks in their last set and lost all three matchups. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates lost to the Yankees 7-5 in the Friday opener of their weekend set, then followed that up with a 6-3 loss in game two. On Sunday Pittsburgh staved off the sweep with a 3-2 win. In that one, Miguel Andujar bagged a solo homer while both Liover Peguero and Jason Delay added one RBI each. 

As starting pitcher for Tuesday’s matchup, the Pirates didn’t immediately announce a name.

Pittsburgh Pirates Team Facts

The Pirates have lost 20 of their last 21 games as road underdogs following a home win.
The Pirates have failed to cover the run line in each of their last seven games as underdogs following a home win.
The Pirates have led after 5 innings in four of their last six games as road underdogs against NL Central opponents.
The Pirates have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last four games at Wrigley Field.
The Pirates have led after 3 innings in each of their last three games against National League opponents.

Chicago Cubs 

Over on the Cubs’ side, they had a rough time versus the Diamondbacks over the weekend. Chicago lost 6-4 Friday, then took two more losses 7-6 and 6-2 in the weekend games. The Cubs got a single RBI from Mike Tauchman in the Sunday defeat, while Ian Happ finished 3-for-4 with a run. 

In the starter slot for the Tuesday opener, the Cubs are going with Javier Assad. This year in 27 games (nine starts) Assad is 3-3 with a 3.10 ERA. Assad has 71 Ks in 95.2 innings total. In his last seven starts, Assad is 2-1 with a 2.79 ERA. 

Chicago Cubs Team Facts

The Cubs have lost each of their last five games as favorites.
The home team has covered the run line in each of the Cubs' last seven games.
The Cubs have trailed after 5 innings in four of their last five games as favorites against National League opponents.
The Cubs have trailed after 7 innings in five of their last six games as favorites against National League opponents.
The 'Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs' market has hit in each of the Cubs' last six home games against NL Central opponents.

Matchup/League Facts

The Chicago Cubs rank T6th in the league for walks this season (521).
The Chicago Cubs rank 6th in the league for home runs allowed this season (164).
The Pittsburgh Pirates rank T1st in the league for home runs allowed this season (160).
The Pittsburgh Pirates rank 28th in the league for hits this season (1178).

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll probably stick with the Cubs here. Assad needs a bit of a course correction, though. He started off the month of September very well with 8.0 clean frames in Cincinnati. That said, in his last two starts combined Assad is 0-1 with seven earned in 8.2 innings on 12 hits and five walks. A quality start in this opener seems realistic, though. The Cubs had a string of six straight games with three or more runs before Sunday’s 6-2 loss to Arizona. If Chicago can get the bats going again, I like Assad to keep things manageable.