Chicago Cubs (40-57, third in the NL Central) vs. San Francisco Giants (48-50, third in the NL West)
San Francisco; Thursday, 9:45 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Justin Steele (4-6, 4.02 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 81 strikeouts); Giants: Alex Wood (6-8, 4.21 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 96 strikeouts)
LINE: Giants -139, Cubs +118; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The San Francisco Giants host the Chicago Cubs on Thursday to start a four-game series.
San Francisco is 48-50 overall and 26-22 at home. The Giants are fifth in the NL with 115 total home runs, averaging 1.2 per game.
Chicago has a 20-25 record in road games and a 40-57 record overall. The Cubs have the fourth-ranked team on-base percentage in the NL at .321.
Thursday’s game is the first time these teams meet this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Thairo Estrada has a .262 batting average to rank fourth on the Giants, and has 16 doubles, a triple and nine home runs. Austin Slater is 10-for-31 over the last 10 games.
Patrick Wisdom leads the Cubs with 38 extra base hits (21 doubles and 17 home runs). Nelson Velazquez is 5-for-17 with a double, three home runs and seven RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Giants: 3-7, .212 batting average, 4.88 ERA, outscored by 17 runs
Cubs: 6-4, .257 batting average, 2.39 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs
INJURIES: Giants: Evan Longoria: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Trevor Rosenthal: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Mauricio Llovera: 60-Day IL (hip), Brandon Crawford: 10-Day IL (right knee), Jose Alvarez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Zack Littell: 15-Day IL (oblique), Colton Welker: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Sam Delaplane: 60-Day IL (forearm), Anthony DeSclafani: 60-Day IL (ankle), Curt Casali: 10-Day IL (oblique), Matthew Boyd: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Cubs: Andrelton Simmons: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Kyle Hendricks: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Alec Mills: 15-Day IL (back), Jason Heyward: 10-Day IL (knee), Michael Hermosillo: 60-Day IL (quadricep), Nick Madrigal: 10-Day IL (groin), Wade Miley: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Manuel Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ethan Roberts: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Adbert Alzolay: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Codi Heuer: 60-Day IL (elbow), Brad Wieck: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.