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The Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs square off on Friday with first pitch set for 2:20 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Aaron Ashby (2-10, 4.24 ERA) will start for the Brewers with Keegan Thompson (9-5, 3.67 ERA) on the mound for the Cubs.
Milwaukee (63-54) split a four-game home series with the Los Angeles Dodgers this week by picking up a 5-3 win on Thursday, Aug. 18. Ashby will make his 23rd appearance and 17th start, and he allowed two runs over six innings in a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. The Brewers rank No. 9 in runs per game (4.50), and Andrew McCutchen crushed two home runs in Thursday’s victory.
Chicago (50-67) will look for its fourth consecutive victory after taking down the Baltimore Orioles in a makeup game on Thursday afternoon. Thompson will make his 25th appearance and 17th start, and he allowed four runs over 1.2 innings of work in Sunday’s start against the Cincinnati Reds. The strong part of the Cubs offense is on-base percentage (.317), which ranks No. 11 in the league, and Patrick Wisdom has team highs in home runs (21) and RBI (55).
Brewers vs. Cubs
Pitchers: Aaron Ashby vs. Keegan Thompson
First pitch: 2:20 p.m. ET
Brewers local broadcast: Bally Sports Wisconsin
Cubs local broadcast: Marquee Sports Network
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Odds, picks & predictions
Run Line: Brewers -1.5 (+115)
Run total: 9
Moneyline odds: Brewers -145, Cubs +125
Moneyline pick: Brewers -145
The Cubs will be in their third city in the last three days due to a makeup game against the Orioles, while the Brewers just needed to make the short trip from Milwaukee to Chicago. The Brewers have the better hitting team in this matchup, and Ashby allowed just one run over six innings with 12 strikeouts in his last start against the Cubs earlier this season.
Player prop pick: Aaron Ashby Over 5.5 strikeouts (-155)
The Brewers pitcher enters this start with a 10.6 K/9, and the Cubs strike out a ton as a team. Chicago strikes out 8.9 times per game, which is the seventh most in the MLB, so Ashby has a great chance at hitting this over as shown by the odds.
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