It is game two of an NL Central weekend series as the Pittsburgh Pirates face the Chicago Cubs. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with a Pirates-Cubs prediction and pick.
The Pirates enter the series at 19-25 on the year, which is third in the NL Central. they have lost two of their last three coming into the series, to the Brewers. The Cubs enter the series at 25-19 on the year. They are in second in the NL Central.
The two will start the series on Thursday night. It will be Jared Jones on the mound for the Pirates on Thursday. He is 2-4 with a 2.68 ERA and a .87 WHIP. Justin Steele will be on the mound for the Cubs. He is 0-0 with a 4.73 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP.
Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Pirates-Cubs Odds
Pittsburgh Pirates: -1.5 (+150)
Moneyline: -104
Chicago Cubs: +1.5 (-182)
Moneyline: -112
Over: 8 (-105)
Under: 8 (-115)
How to Watch Pirates vs. Cubs
Time: 2:20 PM ET/ 11:20 AM PT
TV: SNP/MARQ
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Pirates Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Pirates are 26th in the majors in runs scored, while sitting 27th in batting average, 24th in on-base percentage, and 27th in slugging. Connor Joe has led the way this year. He is hitting .286 on the year with a .259 on-base percentage. He has hit ten doubles and six home runs, leading to 22 RBIs. Further, he has scored 24 times in the year. Bryan Reynolds is also producing well this year. He is hitting .250 on the year with a .342 on-base percentage. He has 11 doubles, a triple, and five home runs. This has led to 19 RBIs and 16 runs scored.
Oneill Cruz leads the team in home runs this year. He is hitting .266 on the year with a .319 on-base percentage. Cruz has eight doubles and seven home runs this year, leading to 18 RBIs and 17 runs scored. Jack Suwinski is hoping to turn around his season. he is hitting just .172 on the year, but he does have 12 RBIs.
Pirates pitching is 17th in team ERA while sitting 16th in WHIP and 17th in opponent batting average. It will be Paul Skenes on the mound for the Pirates in this one. The rookie will be making the second start of his career. In the first start, he went four innings against the Cubs. Skenes gave up six hits, with a home run and two walks. This led to three runs against him, while he struck out seven.
Why The Cubs Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Cubs are tenth in the majors in runs scored, while sitting 18th in batting average, tenth in on-base percentage, and 14th in slugging percentage. Christopher Morel has led the team in home runs and RBIs this year. He is hitting .212 on the year with a .298 on-base percentage. This year, he has three doubles, a triple, and nine home runs. That has led to 28 RBIs on the season. Further, he has scored 22 times and stolen four bases. Meanwhile, Cody Bellinger is second on the team in RBIs while playing in just 30 games. He is hitting .263 on the year with 13 runs scored and 21 RBIs. It has been seven home runs and three doubles that have helped with that.
Michael Busch is also driving in runs. He is hitting .252 on the year with a .318 on-base percentage. He has seven doubles, a triple, and seven home runs this year. That has led to 20 RBIS and 23 runs scored. Nico Hoerner is leading the team in scoring runs this year. He has scored 25 times in the year while hitting .269 with a .361 on-base percentage.
The Cubs are 11th in team ERA while sitting 17th in WHIP and 15th in opponent batting average. It will be Kyle Hendricks on the mound for the Cubs in this one. He is 0-3 with a 10.04 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP. Last time out was the best start of his season. He gave up one run on a solo home run in five innings against the Pirates. Still, he has given up four or more runs in four of his last five starts. Current members of the Pirates have hit .228 lifetime against Hendricks, with five home runs and 15 RBIs over 158 at-bats.
Final Pirates-Cubs Prediction & Pick
Paul Skenes was not perfect in his first start of his career, but he was very good. He should be able to have a good second start as well. Meanwhile, Kyle Hendricks has not been good this year. He is coming off a solid start but overall has been bad. The Pirates should be able to ride the good starts from Sekens to a win.
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Final Pirates-Cubs Prediction & Pick: Pirates ML (-104)