After losing four games in a row the Pirates bounced back and won the last two games in their series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Those last two games in St. Louis were huge for Pittsburgh to get back to winning ways and snap the losing streak they had vs. the Cardinals. Then they lost two of three over the weekend in Toronto, taking the series finale behind a solid outing from Mitch Keller.

The Pirates are about to start another big divisional series when they face off against the Chicago Cubs. Pittsburgh is 2-1 this season against Chicago, winning the first series. The first game was on April 10th at Wrigley Field where the only scoring came from a two run home run by Bryan Reynolds. The Pirates then won the second game 4-3 in 11 innings which is just the third extra inning victory for Pittsburgh this season. The third game of the series ended with a Cubs walk off single by Carson Kelly.

The largest deficit in that series was just two runs. That shows that these teams are very even and well matched. That was a big series for Brandon Lowe who had two home runs. It was also a solid series for Reynolds, who had three RBI.

The Bucs historically have struggled against the Cubs. The Buccos went just 3-10 vs Chicago last season. In those 13 games in 2025 against Chicago the Pirates did not score more than four runs. They snapped that streak this season after their 7-6 victory.

This is going to be the first time this season that these two teams will meet at PNC Park. In 2025 the pirates only won one game vs the Cubs at home.

Carmen Mlodzinski, Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler and Paul Skenes are the set starters for the four game series. It is very important for the starting pitching to step up and produce. Ashcraft’s last performance, where he threw seven innings and had nine strikeouts and just one earned run allowed, is a very good sign for Pittsburgh.

This is going to be a tough series because of the lack of success the Pirates have had throughout the years against the Cubs. It is important for the Buccos to at least take two out of three against what is arguably their biggest divisional rival.