Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago Cubs Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 5/16/2022

Time: 7:40 p.m. ET 

Venue: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL

Where to watch: AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, Marquee Sports Network

DraftKings: Check back later

BetMGM: Check back later

Caesars: Check back later

Pirates: 15-19

Cubs: 13-20

Leave it to the Pittsburgh Pirates to be in a situation where a team would be no-hit and still win a game. That's exactly what happened, and the Pirates were the team that actually won. Because of course the Cincinnati Reds would be the team to have that happened to.

The Pirates won 1-0 at home despite not getting a single hit. I don't even want to go through all the logistics where that happened, but alas, we will try to establish the fact that the Pirates got a victory and now have to head to Chicago for that.

“I’ve been no-hit before. To win takes the sting away a little bit,” VanMeter said. “It’s a heck of a situation. As long as we win, it doesn’t really matter. In the game of baseball, it seems like you see something new every day."

I have honestly no way to think of this game. You have the Reds, who have been so bad this year, being held to four hits and not bringing anyone home. Yet here are the Pirates, finding ways to get on the board despite not having a single hit.

Again, I know it's the Reds, but even this is some ridiculousness that can't even be explained.

“I’ve been no-hit before. To win takes the sting away a little bit,” VanMeter said. “It’s a heck of a situation. As long as we win, it doesn’t really matter. In the game of baseball, it seems like you see something new every day.

The Reds got 7.1 stellar innings from Hunter Greene, who should have never lost in that fashion.

“That was the first time I’ve seen Hunter in a couple years,” said VanMeter, who played for the Reds when Greene was in the Minors. “I saw him at the alternate site a little bit before with the Reds. His breaking ball has come a long way. Him throwing the breaking ball for strikes made the heater even better. The heater is electric already. The ability for him to throw strikes with the breaking ball kind of in any count made it difficult today.”

Sunday belonged to Justin Steele in a huge way.

The Chicago Cubs' starter had 10 strikeouts in a 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. Fortunately they got some hits off the Diamondbacks and scored some runs, unlike the Pirates, but nevertheless, they got things done when they needed to.

"He continued to attack," Cubs manager David Ross said of his starting pitcher. "It looked like the ball was running all over the place for him. The lefties didn't seem to have a lot of answers for him."

This was considered a big win for the Cubs just because of how well the Diamondbacks have played to this point. They're not as bad as they were last year, so any chance the Cubs could get to getting a solid win will be taken any day of the week.

The allure of the Cubs has fallen off a slight bit lately, but at the very least, they'll find a way to keep things entertaining.

"My slider was working very well," Steele said. "I was able to get it for swing-and-miss and for strikes whenever I wanted. I really felt good with it."

I would fully expect the Pirates to get a couple of hits off Wade Miley, and if not, I'd have some serious questions for the direction of the Pirates, much like I've thought for the last number of years. Cubs win 7-3

Check back later for trends.

Pirates:
Ben Gamel (L) LF
Ke'Bryan Hayes (R) 3B
Bryan Reynolds (S) CF
Daniel Vogelbach (L) DH
Yoshi Tsutsugo (L) 1B
Josh VanMeter (L) 2B
Jack Suwinski (L) RF
Rodolfo Castro (S) SS
Michael Perez (L) C
SP - TBD

Cubs:
Rafael Ortega (L) CF
Willson Contreras (R) C
Ian Happ (S) LF
Seiya Suzuki (R) RF
Alfonso Rivas (L) 1B
Patrick Wisdom (R) 3B
Frank Schwindel (R) DH
Jonathan Villar (S) 2B
Ildemaro Vargas (S) SS
SP - Wade Miley

Batting average: Ke'Bryan Hayes -- .301

Hits: Ke'Bryan Hayes -- 34

Home runs: Daniel Vogelbach -- 6

RBI: Ben Gamel -- 15

Wins: Dillon Peters -- 3

Saves: David Bednar -- 7

ERA: Jose Quintana -- 2.19

Batting average: Wilson Contreras -- .277

Hits: Wilson Contreras -- 28

Home runs: Patrick Wisdom -- 6

RBI: Patrick Wisdom -- 17

Wins: Mychal Givens -- 3

Saves: David Robertson -- 5

ERA: Kyle Hendricks -- 4.03