Padres vs Cubs Series Preview: Chicago To Come Out On Top
Second-place teams square off in Windy City
The Chicago Cubs host the San Diego Padres in a three-game series at Wrigley Field this week, with both teams entering in second place in their respective divisions. Chicago had won two in a row heading into Monday’s opener, while San Diego was coming off a loss on Sunday.
The Padres’ setback snapped a four-game winning streak, which was preceded by a five-game losing skid. San Diego (18-19) is looking to avoid another losing streak as it tries to make up the 5.5 games it trails the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers by in the NL West race.
The Cubs (21-14) are also in second place in the NL Central, though only by percentage points behind the Milwaukee Brewers after winning the teams’ weekend series. Those two are starting to distance themselves from the rest of the division.
The series opener should be one of the more competitive games on the MLB schedule today, with the Cubs being the favorite. Chicago is listed at -120 on the moneyline, while San Diego has +110 odds for the straight-up win.
If you’re betting on the run line, you can get San Diego at -215 when getting 1.5 runs, while Chicago is +180 when giving those runs. The over/under has been set at seven runs, with -120 odds for the over and -100 for the under.
The first two games of the series are scheduled for 7:40 p.m. ET first pitches, with the last game of the set set to begin at 2:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Chicago Cubs vs San Diego Padres 
Day/Time:
Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Streaming: EPSN & MLB.tv
Pitching Matchups
Game 1: Yu Darvish (San Diego) vs Justin Steele (Chicago)
The Padres hope to get the good Yu Darvish when he makes his seventh start of the season in the opener. Darvish (1-1, 3.45 ERA) is coming off five shutout innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, allowing just three hits while striking out three and walking none. Unfortunately, in each of his three starts before that outing, the veteran righty allowed at least three earned runs, including an April 8 start against the Cubs in which he lasted just three innings, giving up four runs on four hits.
Chicago isn’t quite sure what it will get with its starter either, as left-hander Justin Steele returns from the injured list for only his second start of the season. In his first, on March 28, he was pretty good, facing the Texas Rangers and allowing one run on three hits over 4.2 innings while striking out six. Steele has been sidelined since with a hamstring issue but seems ready for this one.
Game 2: Undecided (San Diego) vs Shota Imanaga (Chicago)
Right-hander Joe Musgrove was expected to make the start in the second game of the series, but he landed on the injured list on Sunday with right elbow inflammation. That has made it uncertain who will be on the mound for this one. Right-hander Randy Vasquez was recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move and could take Musgrove’s spot in the rotation for this game. Vasquez has made two starts at the major league level this season, going 0-1 with a 5.87 ERA.
The Cubs will have 30-year-old rookie Shota Imanaga starting Tuesday’s contest. Imanaga has been mowing down most MLB lineups he’s faced, going 5-0 with a 0.78 ERA in six starts, recording 35 strikeouts while walking just four batters. Imanaga is coming off a brilliant seven-inning outing against the New York Mets on Wednesday, allowing just three hits and no runs while striking out seven and walking one.
Game 3: Dylan Cease (San Diego) vs Hayden Wesneski (Chicago)
The Padres’ best starter in this series should be right-hander Dylan Cease, who comes into Wednesday’s game with a 4-2 record and 2.55 ERA. He’s 10th in the majors with 48 strikeouts in 42.1 innings of work. He got the win against the Arizona Diamondbacks in his last start, going 6.2 innings and allowing one run on three hits while striking out eight.
The series finale will see righty Hayden Wesneski make his third straight start among his five appearances this season. Wesneski is 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA, though both of his wins came in relief. In his last start, the 26-year-old shut out the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday, allowing just three hits over 6.1 innings while striking out eight and walking two.
Can Padres Get Offense In Gear?
Despite these two teams’ records, it’s the San Diego Padres who have the better offense this season, ranking second in the majors in both batting average (.259) and runs scored (187). It’s just a question of them being more consistent in scoring those runs, as shown by the weekend series with Arizona, in which the Padres had 20 runs in the first two games combined and just four runs in Sunday’s loss.
Outfielder Jurickson Profar ranks sixth in the majors in batting average at .344 entering this series. He had three or more hits in three of the last five games. The 31-year-old has eight doubles, five home runs, 23 RBI and 20 runs scored.
Cubs third baseman Christopher Morel comes into this series on a four-game hit streak, though he had his three-game home run streak snapped on Sunday. Morel has provided some power for Chicago despite a .220 batting average. He has three doubles, a triple, seven home runs, 21 RBI and 20 runs scored.
Cubs Pick Up Series Win
Chicago is playing with a lot of confidence right now, and it’s looking for a little revenge after dropping two of three in San Diego in early April. The Padres have been streaky, but they’ll have trouble being on the winning end of the MLB scores in this one due to a superior Cubs rotation.
Our Padres vs Cubs series preview is giving the edge to the home team in this series. Chicago has a 12-4 record at Wrigley Field this season, and it will improve that mark with wins in at least two of the three matchups with the Padres this week.
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