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Live Discussion: Pirates vs. Cubs, 7:05 p.m.

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PITTSBURGH — Major League Baseball has ruled in the Pirates’ favor regarding the Anthony Rizzo slide, although I bet that’s little consolation to the wavering home team.

MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat reports MLB will have a statement coming out regarding the play, but both teams have been informed that Rizzo should’ve been ruled out.

https://twitter.com/CarrieMuskat/status/1001540447322427392

Let’s not forget about the baseball game tonight, although if you want to debate the matter further, there’s always my story from this afternoon:

http://18.206.184.11/2018/05/anthony-rizzos-questionable-takeout-of-elias-diaz-highlights-rule-confusion.html

The Pirates (28-25) have lost eight of 10 and are now a season-high six games out of the National League Central lead, currently held by the surging Brewers. A loss tonight would not only deepen Pittsburgh’s slump, but also ensure a third consecutive series defeat against divisional competition after four series wins in a row against the Central.

So, uh, no pressure at all on Nick Kingham (3.44 ERA, 2.57 FIP, 0.76 WHIP) in his fourth big-league start tonight. He’ll oppose none other than 13-year MLB veteran Jon Lester (2.37, 4.11, 1.19), who’s off to a hot start in his fourth season with the Cubs.

As if the Pirates didn’t have enough to worry about, Francisco Cervelli’s illness will keep him out for a third straight game. They could use his bat, since they’ve scored just five runs in their past three games, all losses.

Yesterday’s two-single performance against spot-starter Mike Montgomery was particularly odious, but at least that gave the Pirates a look at a lefty before Lester takes the bump.

“We’ve just gotta do a better job with approaches,” Corey Dickerson said. “If somebody gets on, do a better job with passing the torch. You go through times like this, but we’ll have better approaches next time.”

PIRATES LINEUP

Dickerson and Colin Moran sit against the southpaw …

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