Wednesday night the Pittsburgh Pirates (65-73) will look to complete a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs (71-68) who are hanging on by a thread in the National League Wild Card race, sitting 4.5 games out of the Atlanta Braves for that third and final spot.

The Pirates received yet another strong outing from ace Paul Skenes on Tuesday despite laboring through the first three inning were he tossed 77 pitches. He was able to gut out five scoreless frames before turning it over to the bullpen. Colin Holderman, Carmen Mlodzinski, and David Bendar continued to throw up zeroes to complete a 5-0 shutout.

Below, you’ll find tonight’s starting lineups which were turned in just moments ago by managers Derek Shelton and Craig Counsell. Moments ago, Andrew McCutchen was removed from the lineup. Oneil Cruz will now DH while Michael A. Taylor mans center field.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES

1. SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa
2. LF Bryan Reynolds
3. 2B Nick Gonzales
4. DH Oneil Cruz
5. 1B Connor Joe
6. RF Bryan De La Cruz
7. 3B Jared Triolo
8. CF Michael A. Taylor
9. C Henry Davis

P Domingo German (0-0, 6.11 ERA)

Player to Watch – 2B Nick Gonzales

Since returning from a groin injury, Gonzales has been on a tear. In his seven games since being activated, Gonzales is 11-of-32 (.344) with three doubles and four multi-hit games. In 77 plate appearances this season against left-handed pitching, Gonzales is 21-for-73 with two homers and 13 RBI. Andrew McCutchen and Connor Joe have been great against lefties in their respective careers and of late, so has Oneil Cruz. Gonzales is in a spot to set the tone for those guys in the middle of the order.

CHICAGO CUBS

1. LF Ian Happ
2. 1B Michael Busch
3. DH Seiya Suzuki
4. RF Cody Bellinger
5. 3B Isaac Paredes
6. 2B Nico Hoerner
7. SS Dansby Swanson
8. CF Pete Crow-Armstrong
9. C Miguel Amaya

P Shota Imanaga (11-3, 3.14 ERA)

First pitch between the Pirates and Cubs is set for 7:40 p.m. EST.

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PITTSBURGH — A day after Russell Wilson was announced as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive captain this season, a national analyst raised some confusion towards the decision.

Fox Sports 1’s Emmanuel Acho, who is a part of the network’s new show titled The Facility, is of the opinion that the Steelers should have shied away from awarding a captain patch to Wilson because he is at risk of losing his starting quarterback job.

“I got a huge issue with it,” Acho said. “Here’s my issue with it. Russell Wilson, I believe, is one of the greatest men I have ever met in my life. We came into the National Football League together. Russell Wilson is probably one of the best leaders of men in society. My issue is this: Don’t name a captain you might bench.”

It is customary for NFL teams to impart captaincy upon their quarterback, and for good reason. Players at the position assume large responsibilities both on and off the field and essentially hold the weight of the team in their hands, so it’s only right that they are officially recognized for their leadership.

Whether it’s coaches or players voting on captains, rallying around an organization’s signal caller can also generate some additional camaraderie, which becomes easier when they have that patch on their jersey and are a figurehead in the locker room.

Wilson has been a captain since his sophomore campaign in 2013 and is also one of the more experienced and accomplished quarterbacks in the entire league. Pittsburgh has put a premium on his intangibles and believes in his ability to turn the offense’s fortunes around, likely making its decision an easy one.

There is some precedent for this choice when looking at prior seasons, as Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky were named captains after winning the starting job despite not having a firm grip on that role. Both players were eventually benched, so the Steelers are no strangers to working through the exact scenario Acho cautioned about.

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A pro-Palestinian rally and a vigil for Israeli hostages killed in Gaza were held a couple of miles from each other in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. 

Student groups demonstrating near the University of Pittsburgh’s campus showed their support for people in Gaza and ending the war between Israel and Hamas. And a couple of hours later, a vigil at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill paid tribute to six people who were kidnapped, held hostage and then killed.

Just down the street from one another stood gatherings representing both sides of the Israel-Hamas war. 

There was a pro-Palestinian group of Pitt students at Schenley Plaza. 

“It’s not just grief,” Karim Safieddine, a third-year PhD student at Pitt, said. “To people there, this is an end-of-their-world scenario.”

There was a pro-Israel group in Squirrel Hill. 

“We stand here together with our non-Jewish allies and friends to unite in grief, in sorrow and in mourning,” said Julie Paris, the Mid-Atlantic regional director of StandWithUs.

Both groups are grieving. 

“Every single person in Gaza awaits death,” Safieddine said. 

“I’m feeling absolutely heartbroken that there is still a genocide after almost a year,” Pitt senior Cameryn Gray said. “I think it’s absolutely shameful.”

Schenley Park held host to chants, while the Jewish Community Center played host to songs focusing on the deaths of the six Hamas-held hostages found over the weekend. 

“We come together tonight to feel each other’s pain,” Congregation Poale Zedeck Rabbi Daniel Yalkut said.

The faces of the hostages flashed across the screen as a community looked on. The names of those who were lost were read. Once face, Hersh Goldberg Polin, was familiar to Yalkut. 

“He just came from a family of such incredible warmth and faith and good humor,” he said.

Sen. John Fetterman told KDKA-TV why he attended.

“Those six innocent civilians were executed on Oct. 7 and we’re now coming upon the first anniversary,” Fetterman, a Democrat, said. 

The vigil and rally came days after two Jewish students were attacked on Pitt’s campus

“It is that responsibility that makes us release a statement condemning the vicious attack on Jewish students in the Cathedral of Learning,” Safieddine said.

He says they must reject antisemitism in their name

“Grief, death and violence will proceed and will continue to dominate everything that’s happening as long as these structures prevail,” Safieddine said.

There was a small group of pro-Israel protesters at the rally for Gaza, which agitated the pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Despite some tension there, everything remained peaceful