Craving for some intense sports action? Well tonight’s your lucky night as we’ve got two high-quality ballgames that will definitely be worth all your attention. Kicking things off this evening is the much-anticipated showdown between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs in the National League Wild Card game.
Then, over at the MLS, the Vancouver Whitecaps and FC Dallas square off in a critical Western Conference clash. Read on below for a quick breakdown of these pivotal matchups and while you’re at it, you can check out our complete NFL Week 5 picks.
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Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (8:05 PM ET)
Line: Chicago Cubs (-142) at Pittsburgh Pirates (+132); total: 5.5 – view all MLB lines
It doesn’t get any much better than this. The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs will lock horns for the final time this season when they square off in the National League Wild Card game later tonight. Expect both teams to lay it all on the line in this game with a spot in the Divisional Series at stake for both squads.
[sc:MLB240banner ]Starting for the Cubs in this all-important game is Jake Arrieta (22-6, 1.77 ERA). In five starts against the Pirates this season, he has recorded a 0.75 ERA through 36 innings. Chicago went 4-1 against Pittsburgh in those said games. Arrieta will face a formidable foe, though, in Pittsburgh’s Gerrit Cole (19-8, 2.60 ERA). He has made four starts against the Cubs this season, posting a 2.13 ERA over 25.1 innings. The Bucs have gone 3-1 against Chicago in games started by Cole.
The Cubs won their season series against the Pirates, 11-8.
Line: FC Dallas +265 at Vancouver Whitecaps -112, tie +225; total: 2.5 – view all MLS lines
FC Dallas punched their ticket to the MLS Cup Playoffs with a resounding 4-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo on Sunday. David Texeira, Mauro Diaz and Kellen Acosta were the goalscorers for FC Dallas who moved to within a point of the LA Galaxy for the top spot in the Western Conference standings.
Providing opposition to FC Dallas tonight are the resurgent Vancouver Whitecaps. They only need to grab a single point tonight to claim a berth in the playoffs. They will fancy their chances of doing just that as they have fared extremely well against FC Dallas of late. They defeated FC Dallas in their first meeting this season, with Cristian Techera scoring the game’s lone goal at BC Place on August 22. In fact, the Whitecaps have come away with points in their last four home matches with FC Dallas.
The Vancouver Whitecaps are 2-2-1 in their last five meetings with FC Dallas.
