Baseball is a beautiful thing — all 30 MLB teams take the field again on Saturday as the league hits its stride following the All-Star break earlier this week.
The premier matchup on Saturday’s slate takes place at 7:15 p.m. EST out at the ever-iconic Wrigley Field as the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox clash in the second game of this series. Both of these teams have postseason hopes, so if you can only put eyes on one game this evening, make sure it’s this one.
Here’s a Cubs vs. Red Sox prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for this contest between contenders.
Cubs vs. Red Sox prediction, preview
The Cubbies improved to 58-39 after last night’s 4-1 win to open the series. That result didn’t change much out in the NL Central where Chicago holds first place, though a significant lead a few weeks ago has been whittled away by the Milwaukee Brewers who now sit just one game back of the top.
The Cubs thrive on offense with the MLB’s second-highest scoring lineup this season. They fall top six in pretty much any batting stat whether it be AVG, OPS, HRs, walks or strikeouts, so they boast a lethal attack. They were actually out-hit seven to six in last night’s outing but a 2-for-4 showing from Seiya Suzuki with a homer and three RBIs led the Cubs to a victory in which they never trailed. Their pitching staff also falls 13th in ERA and eighth in WHIP, though Chicago’s arms lack a ton of strikeouts at 26th in the category.
The 53-46 Red Sox didn’t return to play following the All-Star festivities in quite the fashion they’d hoped for, but they were still one of the MLB’s hottest teams prior to the break. Boston won 10 straight contests and 13 of their last 15 heading into the break as they rose in the AL East standings and now sit third, just a game behind the second-place New York Yankees and 1.5 games ahead of the fourth-place Tampa Bay Rays. They’re a team to watch in arguably the sport’s most competitive division.
Marcelo Mayer was the only Red Sox player to tally multiple hits in yesterday’s loss with the lone RBI coming from rookie Roman Anthony. The good news is that Alex Bregman returned to the lineup just before the All-Star Game, so the team has some more firepower in the batting order now. Boston posts fives across the board as the team ranks fifth in runs, AVG and OPS, so they’re also a lethal offense as of late. The pitching staff comes in at 11th in ERA and 19th in WHIP, so there’s some room for improvement at the deadline there.
Cubs vs. Red Sox pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Cubs as -149 favorites on the Moneyline. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are +123 underdogs on the road with a run total of nine.
DraftKings Network just introduced a new probable pitchers page to track nightly starter matchups, so be sure to check that out ahead of the game! With that said, the starter duel seems to favor the Cubs tonight with lefty Shota Imanaga (2.65 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 48 SO) on the mound for Chicago against Boston righty Brayan Bello (3.14 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 70 SO).
However, it’s interesting to note that the Red Sox actually bat better against lefties by a decent margin at .272/.342/.448 as opposed to .249/.319/.425 against righties. Imanaga is one of the better pitchers in this league, but I don’t think he totally dominates this Boston order tonight as he does against some teams. He might actually get chased faster than expected — he’s gone under tonight’s line of 17.5 outs recorded in two of four starts since returning from injury on June 26 and seven of 10 starts since April 4.
With that said, under 17.5 outs recorded for the Cubs lefty looks like a great pick at -115 odds.
Best bet: Shota Imanaga under 17.5 outs recorded (-115)
Click the odds on this bet to tail!
