Harden Still Winless
Rich Harden has pitched well during his brief time with the Chicago Cubs, but has nothing to show for it.
The right-hander again goes for his first victory with his new club
while trying to help the Cubs record their first four-game sweep of theMilwaukee Brewers at Miller Park in five years Thursday afternoon.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global
have made Chicago -135 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has
been set at 735 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 56% of bets for this game have been placed on Chicago -135 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
In
what’s become a one-sided series between the NL Central’s two top
teams, Chicago (64-44) continued its dominance with a 7-2 win Wednesday
to move four games ahead of Milwaukee.
"Games in your own
division with teams that are right behind you; (you) come in here one
game up, it could have easily turned around and been the other way,"
Wednesday’s winning pitcher Ryan Dempster said. "We knew we had to play
good baseball."
The Cubs have outscored the Brewers 20-7 and look for their first four-game sweep in Milwaukee since May 12-15, 2003.
The
Brewers (60-48), meanwhile, have lost a season-high four straight and
are in a virtual tie with St. Louis for second in the division and the
wild card lead.
After being held to one total run by Chicago’s
Carlos Zambrano and Dempster the last two days, Milwaukee – 0-for-15
with runners in scoring position in this set – won’t have it easy
against Harden.
"You can talk about it all you want with runners
in scoring position," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "That stuff
happens when you face All-Star pitchers."
Rich Harden (0-1, 1.04 ERA)
has allowed two earned runs and eight hits in 17 1-3 innings over three
starts since being traded to Chicago from Oakland on July 8. He’s
struck out 10 in each contest, and gave up a run and two hits in five
innings of a 3-2, 12-inning loss to Florida on Saturday.
"The guy
doesn’t give up any runs and doesn’t get a win," Chicago first baseman
Derrek Lee said. "You feel a little bad for him. But I have a feeling
he’s going to be good the rest of the way and we’ll get him a few wins."
Harden,
who is making is first appearance against Milwaukee, could be in good
shape if the Cubs continue to hit like they have this week.
On
Wednesday, Alfonso Soriano, Ryan Theriot and Reed Johnson each had
three hits for Chicago, which has won four in a row overall and on the
road.
Theriot, whose two-run triple highlighted a three-run sixth
inning, is 6-for-13 with two triples in the series and batting .366
against Milwaukee this season.
Soriano, meanwhile, is 9-for-17
with seven runs scored and five RBIs in his last four games. He’s also
batting .333 (7-for-21) against Milwaukee’s Thursday starter Dave Bush.
Dave Bush
(5-8, 4.51) makes his second start since the Brewers implemented their
fifth-starter platoon system where he throws at home, while Seth
McClung fills that spot on the road. Bush is 4-2 with a 2.85 ERA at
Miller Park this season, compared to 1-6 with a 7.11 ERA in eight
starts on the road.
"This is what we’re going to do for a while,
so I have to figure out a way to stay a little sharper," Bush told the
Brewers’ official Web site.
He allowed four runs and nine hits in
five innings, but didn’t factor in the decision of Milwaukee’s 6-4 win
over Houston on Saturday.
The right-hander has struggled no
matter where he’s faced the Cubs, going 1-6 with a 4.88 ERA. He allowed
six runs in 5 1-3 innings of a 6-3 loss at Chicago on April 3 for his
fourth consecutive defeat to the Cubs.
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