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The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres have split the first two games of this series, and now head to the rubber match in game three this afternoon. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Padres-Cubs prediction, pick, and how to watch.
The Padres' offense struggled again in the first game of the series, being shut out by the Cubs and losing 6-0. In game two, Fernando Tatis Jr. Drove in three runs and trolled the Cubs faithful with a little dance routine in the process. For the Cubs, Drew Smyly followed up his near-perfect game, with a five-inning two earned run outing, leaving with the lead. The bullpen gave up three runs though and the Cubs took the loss.
Here are the Padres-Cubs MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Padres-Cubs Odds
San Diego Padres: -1.5 (+116)
Chicago Cubs: +1.5 (-140)
Over: 8.5 (-118)
Under: 8.5 (-104)
How To Watch Padres vs. Cubs
TV: BSSD/MARQ
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 2:20 PM ET/ 11:20 AM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread
The Padres need to find consistent scoring. They are currently 23rd in baseball with just 97 runs scored on the year. They are not hitting well, sitting 29th in baseball with a .216 batting average on the season, and their .301 OBP ranks them 26th. The power has not been there once again in this series. They have yet to hit a homerun and struggled to get extra-base hits. Tatis Jr. finally strung together a few hits, driving in three runs on the game, including getting a two-out RBI on a single in the game.
Juan Soto is continuing to struggle. After his 0-5 performance, his batting average is down to .178 on the season. He has now struck out 29 times, which is tied with Trent Grisham for the most on the team. Manny Machado has not been great either. While Soto has an OBP of .339, Machado is sitting at .250. He has struck out 24 times this year and walked just five. Meanwhile, Machado has only driven in seven runs this year and been bad with runners in scoring position.
On the hill, this afternoon will be Seth Lugo. Lugo is 2-1 on the year. While that is not bad, his last two starts have not been his best. He has given up a WHIP over 1.00 in both of them while giving up five runs in the two games. Still, Lugo is not walking batters, nor is he giving up home runs, both metrics that will lead to quality starts in the long run.
Why The Cubs Could Cover The Spread
The Cubs have had some fairly good offense in the last two games, scoring nine runs in the two of them. On the season though, the Cubs are the third-best batting average in all of baseball, with a .276 batting average. Their .347 OBP and .790 OPS sit them second and third in baseball respectively. In their last game, it was runners in scoring position that hurt them. They went just 1-6 with runners in scoring position on the night and struggled in the later innings.
Nico Horner and Trey Mancini drove in the runs yesterday for the Cubs. Horner now has 15 RBIs on the year, and is hitting .340. Beyond his RBIs, Horner is a pain on the basepath. He has stolen ten bases on the season, the most on the team. Patrick Wisdom is on a little bit of a cold streak. He has just one hit in his last four games and has not had an RBI. He still leads the team in RBIs and home runs, but is looking to break out of his cold snap.
Hayden Wesneski will be on the hill tonight. He does not have huge swing-and-miss stuff. In the year, he has 12 strikeouts on the season, but seven of them came against the Athletics. That is not much of a feat. That game was also his only win of the season, as he has given up three runs in each of the other three games.
Final Padres-Cubs Prediction & Pick
Both teams have won a game in this series, but while Lugo has not been great this year, Wesneski has been pretty bad. His only good start of the season was against the lowly Athletics. He is getting run support though. Consequently, that has given him two no-decisions in those games. If the Padres can pounce on him early, as the Mariners, Dodgers, and Reds have done, they will win.
Final Padres-Cubs Prediction & Pick: Padred -1.5 (+116)
