The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres will finish up their four game series this afternoon when they face off at Wrigley Field in Chicago. First pitch is scheduled for 1:20pm Central Standard Time. The game can be seen on National Television on WGN, Fox Sports San Diego, or on the Direct TV MLB Extra Innings Package. The Cubs are heavy favorites at -172 and the over/under currently sits at 11.5 runs. It opened at 12.5 runs this morning but there has been big money bet on the "under" and has pushed the total down by a run so far. It is worth keeping an eye on as their is still an hour and a half until the game starts.
The Cubs are feeling pretty good after winning the last two games of the series against the Padres by scores of 5-4, after dropping the opening game of the series 6-1. Yesterday they had a big second inning that included home runs by Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber that helped them put up all 5 of their runs. Kyle Hendricks pitched just good enough to hold on for the win.
Today the Cubs will give the ball to their ace, Jon Lester. He is having another strong year for the Cubs as he is 12-4 with an ERA of 3.22 and a WHIP of 1.27. It will be imperative for him to keep the ball down today and not to hang any curve balls as the wind is blowing out at Wrigley.
As the Cubs still sit in first place in the National League Central by a game, the Padres are sitting in last place in the National League West. They are only 43-70 on the year and their season is all but over. The Padres have only won 1 game in their last 10 (Thursday against the Cubs) and are just playing for pride.
I am a bit surprised that the Padres are sending starting pitcher Joey Lucchesi to the mound. Lucchesi came down with the flu on Friday and missed his scheduled start yesterday. He was so ill that he was quarantined to his hotel room. With the Padres being off on Monday, I was expecting them to give Lucchesi an extra day off to recover, but none the less, he gets the start today.
Lucchesi is 5-6 on the year with an ERA of 3.74 and a WHIP of 1.26. Like Lester, he is a crafty left handed pitcher. He will have his hands full with a Cubs line up that will be loaded with right handed hitters.
Anthony Rizzo will get the day off and Albert Almora Jr. will get the start at lead off hitter. Victor Caratini will play first base. Kyle Schwarber will be the only left handed bat in the line up.
It should be a fun one to watch today. Time to pour a drink and get settled in for the afternoon and enjoy some Cubs baseball and Scorum blogs! Cheers!
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