Delicious Pitching Matchups in Pirates-Cubs Series

Pirates vs Cubs Lines Favor Former to Continue Pushing for NL Central Lead

Hot-Shot Rookie and MLB ERA Leader Among the Pitchers Set to Go in Pirates-Cubs Series

The Chicago Cubs are happy to return home after splitting the six games during a recent road trip. Three of those games and two of those victories came against the Pirates. The Pirates vs Cubs lines favor Chicago to win another series against the Pirates.

Uncover Exclusive Picks & Predictions From Our Experts.

The Cubs won two of the three games on the road in the first series of the season between the NL Central Division rivals. The Cubs have won 13 of the last 17 games against the Pirates.

Just one of the last 11 games between the Pirates and the Cubs went under the total.

Today’s MLB odds have the Cubs priced at -131 to win Thursday’s series opener with the Pirates at +121 to win outright.

The Cubs have the 10th-shortest odds of +2500 of winning the World Series with the Pirates well back at +20000 in the World Series odds.

Pirates logo Pirates vs Cubs Cubs logo

Records: Pittsburgh Pirates (19-25), Chicago Cubs (25-19)
Day/Time
:
Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Streaming: SportsNet Pittsburgh, Marquee Sports Network

Pirates vs Cubs Probable Pitching Matchups

  • Thursday: Jared Jones (Pirates); Justin Steele (Cubs)
  • Friday: Paul Skenes (Pirates); Kyle Hendricks (Cubs)
  • Saturday: Bailey Falter (Pirates); Shota Imanaga (Cubs)
  • Sunday: Mitch Keller (Pirates); Jameson Taillon (Cubs)

Hits Could Be In Short Supply

Those who love intriguing pitching matchups will want to tune into this series. It starts with the Pirates sending out their hard-throwing rookies Jared Jones and Paul Skenes in the series’ first two games.

The Cubs go with Shota Imanaga, who leads all qualified pitchers with an ERA of 0.96 on Sunday with Mitch Keller being opposed by former Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon in the series finale. Keep that in mind when it comes to the Pirates vs Cubs lines.

Skenes, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, had 17 pitches of at least 100 miles per hour in four innings of work in his MLB debut while Jones has 57 strikeouts in 46 innings.

Taillon, who was 29-24 in four seasons with the Pirates, is 1-1 in his two career starts against his former MLB team.

Kyle Hendricks, set to start for the Cubs on Friday, has struggled this season but he is coming off his best outing of the season when he held the Pirates to two hits and one run in five innings.

Justin Steele has failed to make it through five innings in any of his three starts this MLB season.

Seven of the last nine home games for the Cubs went over the total.

Turning Up the Power

The Cubs and the Pirates are in the bottom half of the majors in team batting average in May. However, they are tied for eighth with 16 home runs.

Five of the 10 hits for Cubs third baseman Christopher Morel have been home runs while Oneil Cruz and Connor Joe have combined for seven home runs for the Pirates.

The Pirates won’t be seeing Kyle Hendricks, who has allowed a team-high nine home runs for the Cubs. Bailey Falter and Jared Jones have both surrendered eight homers for the Pirates. That could factor into the Pirates vs Cubs lines.

The home runs have helped six of the last eight MLB games for the Pirates go over the total.

Who’s Hot

  • Cody Bellinger, Chicago Cubs OF: Bellinger is 12-for-34 with five extra-base hits, three runs, and four RBIs in his last eight games.
  • Shota Imanaga, Chicago Cubs P: Imanaga has allowed no runs in two of his last three starts.
  • Connor Joe, Pittsburgh Pirates 1B: Joe is 10-for-33 with two doubles, three home runs, and eight RBIs over the last nine games.
  • Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates P: Keller has allowed 13 hits and one run with 12 strikeouts in 15 innings in his last two starts.

Who’s Not

  • Michael Busch, Chicago Cubs 1B: Busch is 3-for-17 with nine strikeouts in his last six games.
  • Josh Fleming, Pittsburgh Pirates P: Fleming has surrendered 12 hits and nine runs with three strikeouts and three walks in three innings over his last four appearances.
  • Justin Steele, Chicago Cubs P: In his last start, Steele was touched up for three home runs, six hits, and six runs in four innings.
  • Jared Tirolo, Pittsburgh Pirates IF: Tirolo is 2-for-30 with 13 strikeouts in his last 10 games.

Pirates vs Cubs Injury Update

Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes is on the injured list with a back issue for the Pirates. Pitchers Ryan Borucki, Marco Gonzales, and Carmen Mlodzinski are also out for Pittsburgh.

Infielder Nico Hoerner is questionable for the Cubs while infielder Dansby Swanson joins pitchers Adbert Azzolay, Yency Almonte, Julian Merryweather, and Keegan Thompson on the MLB injured list.

Pirates vs Cubs Betting Preview

The Cubs, who are just 1.5 games out of first place in the National League Central, are 13-4 in their last 17 games against Pittsburgh. Each of the last six times that the Pirates played at Wrigley Field, the game landed over the total as have seven of the last eight matchups between the teams. The total for the series opener is set at 7.5.

When looking at recent MLB scores, the Cubs are 10-6 as a favorite this season while Pittsburgh has split its 22 games when listed as the underdog.

The Pirates are 13-10 against the run line on the road.

The biggest difference between the teams is that the Pirates are 9-6 against left-handed starters with the Cubs set to start two lefties in this series while they are 10-19 when a right-hander starts. Chicago has a 22-14 record against righty starters.

There is a 35% chance of rain for the series opener so that is something to monitor heading into the series.

For MLB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.


Can’t get enough? Here’s more!

Back to top button

pointspreads

WHO WILL WIN?

Submit your vote and view the results
Hey Again

vote all you can

pointspreads

PS-email

PS-email

Robot_subscription sombras
Subscribe to get
get_expert_img
Thank you for subscribing subscribed_icon