Cubs Come Home
There haven’t been too many teams that have gotten the best of the NL
Central-leading Chicago Cubs this year. Just ask the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Cubs look for their sixth consecutive victory as
they try to continue their dominance of the Pirates as the division
rivals open a three-game series Friday at Wrigley Field.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global
have made Chicago -220 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has
not been set at this time (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 69% of bets for this game have been placed on Chicago -220 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Chicago
(65-44) further distanced itself from one of the teams chasing it
within the Central by completing a four-game sweep at Milwaukee with an
11-4 victory on Thursday. The teams were tied atop the division just
six days ago, but are now separated by five games.
"There’s
baseball to be played in August, September," Cubs manager Lou Piniella
said. "But certainly, coming in here and beating a good opponent at
their home ballpark four times is something to feel good about."
Jim
Edmonds homered twice Thursday – including a grand slam – to help the
Cubs improve to 27-19 versus NL Central foes. That includes a 9-3 mark
versus the last-place Pirates (50-58).
Chicago took five of six
from Pittsburgh at Wrigley Field earlier this year, and looks to open
its nine-game homestand successfully. But while the club is an NL-best
39-14 at home, it is only 7-6 there since its franchise record-tying
14-game winning streak (May 18-June 22).
The Cubs have had better
results when right-hander Jason Marquis (6-6, 4.69 ERA) takes the mound
at home. They have won seven of his 10 starts at Wrigley, though he is
3-3 with a 5.81 ERA in those appearances.
In his most recent
outing there, Marquis yielded six runs and nine hits in six innings,
but finished without a decision as Chicago eventually beat Florida 9-6
on Sunday.
"I got behind early and didn’t like the direction the
game was headed, but we hung in there and the offense came alive and
settled down," Marquis told the Cubs’ official Web site.
Marquis is 7-5 with a 4.03 ERA in 21 career games against the Pirates, but 2-0 with a 3.12 ERA in three matchups this season.
The Pirates, who are 14 1/2 games back of the Cubs, capped a 3-4 homestand with a 7-4 loss to Colorado on Wednesday.
While
they are well out of contention in the NL Central, they have started
making several moves to begin rebuilding for the future. After sending
Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to the New York Yankees on Saturday, they
dealt outfielder Jason Bay to Boston on Thursday as part of a
three-team trade that moved Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez to the Los
Angeles Dodgers.
In exchange for Bay, Pittsburgh acquired
reliever Craig Hansen and outfielder Brandon Moss from Boston and third
baseman Andy LaRoche and pitcher Bryan Morris from the Dodgers.
Right-handerJeff Karstens came to Pittsburgh in the deal for Nady and Marte and
makes his Pirates debut against a Cubs’ team that has hit .295 with 14
homers versus Pittsburgh pitching this season.
The right-hander,
filling the rotation spot left open after John Van Benschoten was
demoted to Triple-A Indianapolis on Sunday, went 6-4 with a 3.80 ERA in
12 starts at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the Yankees’ system.
"I
don’t expect him to go out and throw eight shutout innings," manager
John Russell told the Pirates’ official Web site. "I’m just looking for
the actions in his pitches, how he competes (and) mound presence."
Karstens
compiled a 3-5 mark with a 5.65 ERA in 15 games – nine starts – for the
Yankees from 2006-07, but he has never faced an NL club.
Did
you like this article? Subscribe to our Baseball news feed for the fastest
updates delivered right to you – Click here to
Subscribe
