Friday baseball and I will have a free pick in the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago Cubs, which will take place at Wrigley Field in Chicago. First pitch is scheduled for a 4:05 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally.
Betting Odds
Cincinnati +106
Chicago -116
Over/ Under: No Total Yet
The Cincinnati Reds lost game 1 of this series by a score of 6-3, which continued their road woes where they have gone 10-19 on the year. The Chicago Cubs are playing good ball right now as they have now won 4 of their last 5 games. They are now 32-26 on the year, but still 6 games behind division leading St Louis in the NL Central. The Reds rank 18th in scoring (4.12 rpg), while on the mound they are 23rd in ERA (4.18). The Cubs rank 15th in scoring (4.14 rpg), while on the mound they are 10th in ERA (3.70).
Trends for this game include: The Reds are 40-18 in Cueto's last 58 starts after allowing 5 runs or more in their previous game, but just 11-40 in their last 51 games as a road underdog and 8-21 in their last 29 road games vs. a team with a winning home record. The Cubs are 7-2 in their last 9 during game 2 of a series and 8-3 in their last 11 home games vs. a team with a losing record, but just 2-8 in Hammel's last 10 starts vs. a team with a losing record.
Getting the ball for the Reds today will be Johnny Cueto, who is 4-4 with a solid 2.64 ERA overall, while on the road he is 2-3 with a 3.83 ERA. Johnny is 9-8 with a 3.24 ERA in 22 starts vs the Cubs in his career, which includes a 5-5 mark and a 3.06 ERA in 13 career starts at Wrigley Field.
Taking the hill for Chicago today will be Jason Hammel, who is 5-2 with a 2.76 ERA on the year, while at home he is 1-0 with a 2.54 ERA in 4 starts. Jason is 0-1 with a 5.22 ERA in 5 appearances (4 starts) vs the Reds in his career, but he hasn't faced them since 2011.
Pick: I will go with the Cubs in this one. Yes the Reds have Cueto on the mound, but he has not been great this year and he is just 5-5 in his career vs the Cubs at Wrigley. Jason Hammel has pitched very good this year and he has the better offense backing him up. The Reds have been a horrible road team of late and I don't see that changing in this one
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