San Francisco (59-48) at Chicago Cubs (58-48)
When: Thursday, August 6th, 2015
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Time: 8:05 ET
TV: DirecTV 665, 696
The San Francisco Giants continue their 10-game road trip with the first of 4 in Chicago. The Giants currently sit only 2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West standings, and are currently a half a game ahead of the Cubs for the final Wild Card spot. So, this is a big series for both teams. The Giants just took 2 of 3 in Atlanta thanks to some potent offense. They scored 22 runs in the 3 games and held Atlanta to 4 runs in the final 2 games. The Giants are actually 1 of only 3 National League teams that are over .500 on the road. The other 2 being the Cardinals and Cubs. This will be the first time all year that the Cubs and Giants have played. San Francisco won the season series last year 4-2.
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Chris Heston will make is 22nd start of the year and he has been a pleasant surprise in San Francisco. Overall he’s 11-5 with a 3.24 ERA including 2 complete games and a no-hitter in Citi Field. He does struggle a bit on the road, but he gets great run support. His ERA away from home is 4.01, but the Giants are 8-2 in those 10 starts. This will be his first career start in Wrigley Field.
The Cubbies start a 7-game homestand tonight and as we mentioned earlier, they’re only a half a game out of the playoffs right now. They’re really aiming for that Wild Card, because they’re 9.5 games behind the Cardinals in the National League Central. They have been red hot. Last night the Pirates snapped the Cubs 7-game winning streak dating back to the final game of their last homestand. Their pitching has been dominant lately. In that 7-game winning streak they outscored their opponents 25-10.
Jason Hammel takes the mound tonight and he’s had trouble going deep into games. He’s only finished 7 innings or more twice in his last 9 starts. His win last week in Milwaukee was his first since June 6th. He does have decent numbers, however. He’s 6-5 with a 3.13 ERA and averages almost exactly a strikeout an inning. The Cubs are hoping he can get to the 8th inning tonight before 100 pitches.
Both teams are playing well right now, but I’m going to have to take the Giants tonight as the underdogs. -130 is a little too high to take against a team hitting as well as San Francisco.
Pick: Giants +120
