The San Diego Padres host the Chicago Cubs for Game 2 of the 4-game series. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Cubs-Padres prediction and pick.
The Cubs took Game 1 of the series thanks to a solid outing from starter Jameson Taillon. Taillon entered Friday with an ERA over 8.00 and it dropped to 7.00 after pitching 5.2 innings allowing just one run to the Padres lineup. The Cubs improved to (25-31) on the season and are just a half-game behind the Padres in the conference.
The Friars continue to struggle. After scoring 10 runs in the series finale in Miami, they returned home to score just one run. Manny Machado returned to the lineup and finished 0-4 as it seems like they will never get it going. Petco Park is a pitching ballpark, but that still isn't an excuse to not score multiple runs in a game with that lineup. The Padres are (26-31) on the season which has them 4th in the NL West.
Here are the Cubs-Padres MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Cubs-Padres Odds
Chicago Cubs: +1.5 (-152)
San Diego Padres: -1.5 (+126)
Over: 8 (-105)
Under: 8 (-115)
How To Watch Cubs vs. Padres
TV: Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes
Stream: MLB TV, MLB Extra Innings
Time: 10:10 ET/7:10 PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Cubs Could Cover The Spread
Drew Smyly is on the bump for the Cubs tonight. The southpaw is (5-2) with a 3.45 ERA in 60 innings pitched. He pitches a tad better on the road as well with a (3-1) record and a 3.38 ERA. The last start for Smyly ended badly giving up five runs in 4.2 innings. The Cincinnati Reds handed Smyly his worst outing of the season and he looks to bounce back against a struggling lineup.
The Cubs' offense has been up and down all season. They are currently struggling at the moment as well, but the good news is that they are almost healthy are ready to back back on track in San Diego. Dansby Swanson has been the man all season. He smashed a home run last night that proved to be the winner and his batting average now sits at .274.
The Cubs' lineup is filled with mostly right-handed hitters, so not having that diversity has hurt them in recent weeks. Eric Hosmer is no longer on the team and Cody Bellinger has been out since May 15. However, Mike Tauchman has hit the ball well in just 13 games batting .333 with four RBIs.
Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread
Starting for the Padres is right-hander Yu Darvish. Darvish struggled big time against the New York Yankees in his last start. So much so, that he was removed in the third inning for the first time in two seasons. He allows seven runs off of seven hits in New York and saw his ERA rise to 4.61. On the season, he is (3-4) with 59 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.20. Darvish has a home ERA of 3.30 in five starts. The Friars need Darvish to be on his game tonight.
Now to the offense. Even with Machado back in the lineup, the Padres struggled to find any rhythm. It just got even worse, as Rougned Odor hurt himself last game and should miss a few weeks. Odor had been the only source of offense outside of Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr.
Nobody … yes, nobody is batting over .257 on the season for the Friars. That is horrendous. Xander Bogaerts leads the way and Soto is behind him at .255. They have the second-worst all-around offense in baseball and something needs to change if they want to figure it out. Facing a southpaw tonight, it doesn't get any easier for them as they hit even worse facing lefties.
Final Cubs-Padres Prediction & Pick
Take the Cubs to cover this spread and don't think twice about it.
Final Cubs-Padres Prediction & Pick: Cubs +1.5 (-152)
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