The Pittsburgh Pirates have faced the Chicago Cubs six times this season. And during that stretch, the Bucs only managed to emerge victorious once. Will they continue to struggle against their NL Central rivals in their latest matchup, or will they finally start turning the tables around in this afternoon’s series opener at Wrigley Field? Read on below for more about this highly-anticipated matchup.
For more baseball, click here to check out our preview of the San Francisco Giants vs. Tampa Bay Rays.
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Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago Cubs Betting Preview
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
When: Friday, May 17, 2016, 2:20 PM ET
Line: Pittsburgh Pirates (+240) vs. Chicago Cubs (-280) – view all MLB lines
TV Broadcast(s): WLS, RTPT
Betting on the Pittsburgh Pirates (33-33)
Speaking of which, firing on the mound for Pittsburgh will be Francisco Liriano (4-6, 4.92 ERA). He’s received the loss in his past three starts, but even so, the left-handed Dominican took a big step forward during his most recent start against the Cardinals last Saturday. In that game, the veteran registered six innings of one-run ball and struck out eight batters.
Furthermore, Liriano should be in line for a valiant performance later this afternoon. He has pitched relatively well against the Cubs throughout his career, boasting an ERA of 3.13, a WHIP of 1.13 and a .187 opponents’ batting average.
On offense, meanwhile, the Bucs might have to go through another game without one of their top batters in Starling Marte, who is dealing with some minor vision problems. Hence, the pressure is on Andrew McCutchen to step up at the plate especially if Marte does remain sidelined.
McCutchen, who leads the team in homers (10) this season, went 3-of-4 with a double and a home run in yesterday’s setback to the Mets. He is also 9-of-29 lifetime off the Cubs’ ace in Jake Arrieta.
The Pirates are 2-8 SU in their previous 10 road games. They are also pegged at +4,000 to win the World Series this season.
Betting on the Chicago Cubs (44-20)
The Chicago Cubs are unsurprisingly the favored team to win here. Besides winning five of their last six matches with the Pittsburgh Pirates this season, the Cubs are going to have the luxury of handing the ball to arguably the best pitcher in baseball right now: Jake Arrieta (10-1, 1.83 ERA).
Arrieta has been on an absolute tear this year and the Bucs would likely agree to that. After all, they’ve already faced him twice this year and the results weren’t in their favor to say the least. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner went 2-0 with a 1.20 ERA during that stretch. He’s also owns a 3-1 record with a 1.89 ERA across six starts at Wrigley Field this season.
Arrieta, though, won’t be the only one that the Pirates need to worry about. The Cubs’ offense, which is accumulating 5.38 runs per contest, is also a testament to their current success and the pair of Ben Zobrist and Kris Bryant has led the charge.
Zobrist, who leads the Cubs in batting (.316), OBP (.425) and hits (68), has gone 8-of-28 with two doubles, two homers and four RBIs in the last seven games. Bryant, meanwhile, has already put in a team-high of 15 homers, and is 4-of-9 lifetime off the Bucs’ starter in Francisco Liriano.
Chicago is 8-2 SU in its past 10 games at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are also the top favorites (+300) to win the World Series this year.
Writer’s Prediction
Chicago (-280) wins it, 6-1.
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