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While A.J. Burnett is expected to pursue another win for the Pittsburgh Pirates, it's unknown if Ryan Dempster will get the chance to do the same for the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs have been seeking to trade the right-hander for weeks and will make one final attempt before Tuesday night's game at Wrigley Field.

Burnett (12-3, 3.52 ERA) will seek to match his second-highest win total for one season Tuesday but more attention will likely fall toward the Cubs and Dempster (5-5, 2.25) before that game.

Chicago (43-58) reportedly had a deal in place last week to send the veteran right-hander to Atlanta but that wasn't completed. Dempster has the right to refuse a trade due to his 10 years in the majors and five with the Cubs.

Dempster has stated a preference to join the Los Angeles Dodgers. Chicago has tried to oblige and will have until 4 p.m. EDT to pull off a deal.

"If they have anything that comes to fruition, (I asked them to) just let me know and we'll make a decision from there," Dempster told the team's website. "I can control what I do, and I'm going to try to do the best job of that. I have a job to do (Tuesday) and that's to go out there and pitch, and I"m trying to prepare for that."

The Cubs were busy during Monday's 14-4 rout of Pittsburgh, dealing pitcher Paul Maholm and outfielder Reed Johnson to Atlanta. They also reportedly sent catcher Geovany Soto to Texas and might confirm that trade Tuesday.

The Pirates, meanwhile, acquired outfielder Travis Snider from Toronto for reliever Brad Lincoln.

"It isn't comfortable to go down there and make moves," Chicago general manager Jed Hoyer said. "I'm glad in this case it didn't impact the actual game."

Darwin Barney finished a double shy of the cycle and drove in a career-high four runs in the series-opening win. Anthony Rizzo and Stalin Castro also went deep as the Cubs posted a season high in runs.

"You're going to take beatings from time to time," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. "Things just got away from us a little bit."

With the uncertainty over any trades likely settled, Chicago will seek a season high-tying fourth consecutive victory. If Dempster starts, he'll try to avoid his second loss to the Pirates (58-44) in six days.

He was solid over six innings Wednesday at PNC Park, giving up three runs and five hits, but did not get enough support in a 3-2 loss. Dempster is 0-3 with a 3.20 ERA over his last three matchups.

Burnett, meanwhile, will try for a sixth win in as many matchups with the Cubs. He tossed 5 1/3 innings in outdueling Dempster in a 1-0 victory at PNC on May 25.

The right-hander is also pursuing a third overall win in as many starts and 12th in 14 outings. He gave up two late solo homers and two singles over 7 1/3 innings during a 5-3 win in Houston on Thursday.

Burnett will try to win 13 games for the since 2009, when he was with the New York Yankees, and help the Pirates avoid their first three-game skid since June 24-26. He earned a career-high 18 victories in 2008 with Toronto.