That joke in the title is a bit of a stretch. /dadjokes
The Pirates have been a hot and cold team this year, but they've been cold lately. After climbing to 58-58, they've been 5-10 in their last 15 with many of those games being non-competitive. Furthermore, the Cubs miss both Cole and Taillon, instead getting the pitchers on the team that are…not great (and they haven't been that great either this year). The Pirates are a bad team, worse than their record indicates, and the Cubs should absolutely crush them. Problem is, the Cubs aren't all that great right now either.