The San Diego Padres are in the Windy City for a three-game midweek series with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Cubs won the opener, 6-0, on Tuesday night behind 5+ innings of three-hit ball from starting pitcher Justin Steele, who has four wins in a row. The Cubs had seven hits, four from Yan Gomes, who touched up Blake Snell for a two-run homer in the second inning. Gomes has been red-hot lately, batting .441 (15 for 34) in his last eight games, with four home runs and nine RBI. The game stayed a 2-0 until the eighth inning, when the Cubs added four more runs via an RBI single from Gomes and a bases-clearing triple from Nico Hoerner. Snell dropped to 0-4 on the season for the Padres. Let’s take a look at your best MLB betting choices for the remaining two games in the series.
MLB Midweek Spotlight: San Diego Padres at Chicago Cubs (April 26-27) | MLB Lines
Projected Pitching Matchup: Michael Wacha (2-1, 7.08 ERA) (SD) vs Drew Smyly (2-1, 3.13 ERA) (CHI)
When: Wednesday, April 26, 7:40 pm ET
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago
Live Stream: MLB Network, MLB.tv
Michael Wacha has been torched in three of his four starts so far this season. His best start came on April 8, when he held the Braves scoreless over six innings, scattering a pair of hits and striking out 10 while walking just one. Since then, though, he has only managed 8 ⅓ combined innings in his last two starts, allowing a dozen runs on 21 hits, including two home runs, against Milwaukee and Arizona. The Padres were able to scratch together seven runs and beat Arizona, but Wacha is finding way too much of the plate too far this season.
Drew Smyly had a sparkling start on Friday against the Dodgers, limiting Los Angeles to just one hit over 7 ⅔ innings, striking out 10 in a 13-0 win. His bid for a perfect game came to an end on a bunt in which Gomes collided with him as both went for the ball, a play ruled a hit. Smyly allowed six earned runs in his first start of the season but has only permitted two since then, and the Cubs have won all three of those games that he started since April 3. Cubs to win.
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Projected Pitching Matchup: Seth Lugo (2-1, 2.78 ERA) (SD) vs Hayden Wesneski (1-1, 6.23 ERA) (CHI)
When: Thursday, April 27, 2:20 pm ET
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago
Live Stream: MLB Network Alt. (JIP), MLB.tv
Seth Lugo has been mostly solid so far, lasting six or more innings while permitting no more than two earned runs in three of his first four starts. The off night came on April 15 against the Brewers, when he had to leave after 3 ⅔ innings, already having permitted eight hits and three runs. He bounced back with six sharp innings against Arizona on Friday, allowing just two runs on six hits while striking out six and walking one. The Padres’ offense, though, was silenced, and the bullpen let things get out of control in a 9-0 loss.
Hayden Wesneski has had one solid start, in Oakland on April 17, where he threw seven innings of one-run, five-hit ball, striking out seven without a walk. In his last start, on Saturday, he only made it 4 ⅓ innings, giving up three runs on five hits, including a home run, and only posting one strikeout, in a 9-4 loss to the Dodgers. He has shown good stuff but has not been tricking hitters at this point. Padres to win.
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