Cubs vs. Red Sox Pick
Who will take the rubber match when the Chicago Cubs take on the Boston Red Sox tonight at 8PM ET in Sunday Night Baseball?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Red Sox are a slight favorite at home today, as they are getting odds of -115 to win, while the Cubs are listed with a money line of -105 to prevail. The over/under total for the game is listed at 9 runs.
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Today’s pitching matchup has Kyle Hendricks (2-1, 4.50 ERA) taking the mound for the Cubs to face Eduardo Rodriguez (1-1, 3.12) of the Red Sox. Hendricks has yet to get beyond six innings this year and he has given up 11 runs over 22 innings of work. He also has just 16 strikeouts with nine walks. Rodriguez is coming off a six-inning outing where he allowed just one hit. He has 22 strikeouts this season in 17 innings of work, but has struggled with walks, putting up 12 so far.
These two have split the first two meetings, with the Sox winning on Friday, 5-4. The Cubs then answered with a 7-4 win on Saturday. Chicago comes into today’s game 13-10 overall and 9-5 on the road while the Red Sox are 12-11 overall and 8-5 at home.
After falling behind 4-2 in Saturday’s game, the Cubs rallied to score the last five runs of the game. Ben Zobrist and Miguel Montero each hit a home run during the rally to spark the comeback. John Lackey got the win, but allowed four runs over six innings. His bullpen pitched three scoreless innings to lock up the victory. Dustin Pedroia went 3-of-4 at the plate to be the lone Red Sox player with multiple hits on Saturday.
Hendricks isn’t off to a great start this season, but I trust that he will right that ship sooner rather than later. Rodriguez has a small sample size for his numbers and I don’t like him against the Cubs’ lineup. Chicago has done well against left-handed starters, going 7-1 in their last 8 against a lefty. They also are 20-7 in Hendricks’ last 27 starts while the Red Sox are 2-8 in Rodriguez’ last 10 home starts.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: CHICAGO CUBS -105