CHICAGO -- The Pirates might take a rain check on that 100-loss season, after all.

The cancellation of their game with Chicago last night at Wrigley Field to heavy rain -- they had been beating the Cubs, 3-0, in the top of the fourth inning -- held their record at 61-97. That means they must take just one of the final three games this weekend in Cincinnati to avoid the franchise's eighth 100-loss season.

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Today

• Game: Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 p.m., Great American Ball Park.

• Radio: WPGB-FM (104.7).

• Pitching: RHP Daniel McCutchen (0-2, 4.80) vs. RHP Justin Lehr (5-2, 5.46).

• Season series: Reds, 11-3.

• Key matchup: The Pirates faced Lehr for the first time Aug. 22 and smacked him around for six runs in five innings on their way to a 12-2 rout.

• Of note: The pitching staff has given up one home run in the past 10 games. That includes the past five games and past 44 innings.

• Catch more on the Pirates at the PG's PBC Blog.

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The game last night, which never resumed after a delay of two hours, 32 minutes, will not be made up because both teams are out of the National League playoff picture.

Avoiding 100 losses is a miniscule achievement, to be kind, but the century marked looked like a lock last week when the Pirates had lost 23 of 26 to drop to 56-95. Since then, though, they took three of four from the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers, then two of three here from the nemesis Cubs.

Who saw this coming?

"This could have been tough," manager John Russell said. "It's not a cure-all. It's not like this is going to carry us over. But I think they're becoming more of a team. It's a little late in the year, unfortunately, but that's where we're at. We've seen some improvement individually. Now, it's about doing what it takes to win, and they're getting a taste of it. Hopefully, we can take something from these two series."

"There's no question things haven't been easy for our team, but we're ending up on a good note, and that's a positive," catcher Ryan Doumit said.

The Pirates darted to a 3-0 lead in the first off Jeff Samardzija last night: Andy LaRoche's one-out double was followed by Garrett Jones' RBI single. After another out, Lastings Milledge slugged a 1-1 fastball into the left-field bleachers for what would have been his fourth home run.

No statistics count in a canceled or postponed game.

Paul Maholm pitched three scoreless innings in his season finale, allowing three hits. He might have evened his record but stayed 8-9 with a 4.44 ERA.

Maholm was spared a run in the first by a fine diving catch in shallow center by Andrew McCutchen, robbing Jake Fox with a runner at third and two outs.

Tonight, Daniel McCutchen can gain a double measure of satisfaction if the Pirates can avoid 100: For one, he would be linked to some positive history after being the starter whose Sept. 7 loss clinched the franchise's record 17th consecutive losing season. For another, it would be his first career victory in his sixth start.

Also, the Pirates have 21 road victories, fewest in Major League Baseball, and need one more to avoid having the fewest in a full season since the 162-game schedule was implemented in 1962. They won 22 in 1985.

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