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Paul Skenes impending debut headlines Pittsburgh Pirates series against rival Chicago Cubs
After dropping two of three games against the Los Angeles Angels earlier this week, the Pittsburgh Pirates will host the rival Chicago Cubs for a three-game series at PNC Park.
Of course, the big news heading into this weekend is that Pirates top prospect and one of the organization's best prospects over the last few decades, right-hander Paul Skenes is scheduled to make his Major League debut on Saturday. We'll have more on Skenes below.
The Cubs enter the weekend with a 22-16 record, sitting in second place in the National League Central only behind the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs have been led this season by strong pitching, posting the sixth best team ERA in the National League at 3.75. Their offense has been slightly above average in the National League, hitting just .233/.314/.387 as a team, with 174 total runs scored, an average of 4.5 runs per game.
The Cubs enter this weekend's series after dropping two games in a three game series at Wrigley Field against the San Diego Padres including being shut out on Wednesday by Padres ace Dylan Cease in a 3-0 loss. This weekend's series will be the start of a quick six-game road trip for the Cubs as they'll head to Atlanta following their stay in Pittsburgh.
This will be just the second series this season that the Cubs have played against an NL Central team.
The Pirates enter this weekend with a 17-21 overall record and have dropped each of their last two after winning three straight last Saturday through Monday. This will also be their second series against an NL Central opponent, splitting a four-game series with the Brewers last month.