The Pittsburgh Pirates meet the Chicago Cubs on Friday. The game starts at 4:05 p.m. ET. Watch the live stream HERE.
Pittsburgh owes some of its success this season to pitcher Francisco Liriano (7-3, 2.23 ERA). He's given up only one run or none in seven of his 10 starts and has 67 strikeouts in 60 2/3 innings, the Associated Press reports. In his last start, on Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers, Liriano allowed one run in six innings to go along with his six strikeouts, helping the Pirates to a 2-1 win.
The 29-year-old pitcher is slated to take the mound for Pittsburgh on Friday, when the club looks for its sixth win in seven tries against Chicago.
"We're playing pretty good baseball right now and have to continue it, so every five days I go out and try to do my job," Liriano told reporters. "So far, so good."
The Pirates have the best winning percentage past the halfway point of the season, and they set atop the NL Central with a 52-32 record.
"We're having fun, we're playing hard and we're giving everything we have," Loriano said.
Chicago (36-47) hasn't played well against Loriano this season. In two starts, Loriano has given up only two hits in seven innings in each game. Pittsburgh won both outings.
The Cubs, meanwhile, had averaged 6.1 runs and at least 10 hits five times over their previous nine games. Jeff Samardzija (5-7, 3.34) will take the mound for Chicago. In his last three outings, he's 2-0 with a 2.82 ERA
He's 3-2 with a 1.66 ERA in five career starts against Pittsburgh.
The status of Cubs center fielder Brian Bogusevic for Friday is uncertain. Bogusevic, who's hitting .300 in eight games, left Thursday's game with a left hamstring injury.
