MLB Betting – Cubs Enter Critical Series With Phillies
The sportsbook is cleaning up on all of the Chicago Cubs futures at this point as one of the team that was expected to win the National League – or at least the Central – by many bettors, has turned out to be a fraud.
The Cubs are just four games over .500 but it took a second-half opening four-game series sweep of the lowly Washington Nationals to get to 47-43.
A lot of people are looking at betting the Cubs right now because they are a team that has underachieved in the first half but is still capable of a World Series run if they start playing to their potential.
They open a critical series with the Philadelphia Phillies and if the Cubs can stay hot, they’ll climb back up the standings very quickly in the weak Central. Currently, they are just two games back of the first-place Cardinals.
On Tuesday, the Cubs will send Ted Lilly to the mound, and he’s arguably been their best starter this year. Lilly has a sparkling 3.16 ERA and a 9-6 record, but baseball wagering cappers want to take a look to see how his start goes on Monday. He tweaked his knee in his last outing but isn’t going to miss any time. He’ll face the recently signed Rodrigo Lopez.
Wednesday’s pitching matchup will feature Rich Harden against Joe Blanton, two pitchers that have been inconsistent. Blanton has been sharp of late, allowing just one earned run in his last 14.2 innings pitched. Meanwhile, Harden didn’t allow a single earned run in his last start against the Washington Nationals but he gave up 11 earned runs in his last seven innings before it. Both pitchers have been tough to gauge.
Finishing up the series on Thursday will be Carlos Zambrano and Jamie Moyer, which should give the edge to the Cubs. Moyer has won his last five starts as his ERA is just 3.71 over that span. He’s struggled at home this year, though, posting an ERA of 6.80 at Citizens Bank Ballpark.
He’ll square off with Carlos Zambrano, who was the NL Cy Young pick among a lot of early season sports predictions but he’ll need a very strong second half to even get in the mix.
Zambrano has an ERA of 2.25 in July – by far, the best month of his season – so he’s worth a play on Wednesday.
The Cubs are hot right now so ride them until they show you otherwise.
One reply on “Cubs vs. Phillies Series Betting”
The Phillies waxed the Cubs 10-1 in game one. Chicago may have a shot tonight if their pitching can quiet the red not bats of Philly. I look for the Phillies to take two out of three at the very least.