Pittsburgh Pirates vs Chicago Cubs Prediction, Pick and Preview, April 21 (4/21): MLB

Credit: photo by  Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

 

Odds

Time	7:40 p.m. EST
Pirates money line	+123
Pirates run line	+1.5 (-155)
Cubs money line	-155
Cubsrun line	-1.5 (+135)
Over / under	8.5

 

Key stats

	Pittsburgh Pirates	Chicago Cubs
Record	5-7	6-6
Road / home record	1-5	3-3
Last 10 record	5-5	4-6
Streak	L3	L2
Over / under record	4-53	6-5-1
Runs / game	3.75	4.58
Runs allowed / game	4.67	4.42

 

Preview

The Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates will play a 4-game series at Chicago. They already met earlier in the season in a short 2-game series and they're tied 1-1.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates get to this game with a 5-7 record and will try to win their second series of the season after beating the Brewers in the last one. The team is averaging 3.75 runs and allowing 4.67 runs per game. Ke'Bryan Hayes is batting for .326 AVG. Daniel Vogelbach leads in home runs with 2 so far and Chavis has 6 RBI

Thompson allowed 5 hits and 2 runs striking out 3 in 4 innings pitched.

Probable Pitcher: 

Bryse Wilson (0-0, 5.40 ERA) will take the mound in the 3rd game of the series for the Pirates. Wilson gave up two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out two across 4.1 innings Saturday against the Nationals. He didn't factor into the decision. In his last 3 games vs Cubs he has a 7.40 ERA in 12 innings pitched.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Cubs get here with a 6-6 record and are 3-3 at home so far this season. The team is averaging 4.58 runs and allowing 4.42 runs per game. Seiya Suzuki leads the team with 4 home runs and 11 RBI and he's batting for .387.

The starter Hendricks gave up six runs on seven hits and four walks while striking out four across 3.2 innings Wednesday against the Cubs. He didn't factor into the decision. Leiter (0-1) allowed seven runs on five hits across 3.1 innings to take the loss Saturday against the Rockies. He walked four and struck out four.

Probable Pitcher: 

Mark Leiter Jr. (0-1, 18.90 ERA) will take the mound in the 3rd game of the series for the Cubs. Despite getting lit up for seven earned runs over 3.1 innings in his Cubs debut last weekend in Colorado, Leiter will make a second turn in the rotation while starting pitchers Wade Miley (elbow) and Alec Mills (back) remain on the injured list. 

BETTING TRENDS

Pittsburgh are 2-10 SU in their last 12 games against Chi Cubs.

Pittsburgh are 1-6 SU in their last 7 games on the road.

Chi Cubs are 2-4 SU in their last 6 games.

The total has gone OVER in 7 of Chi Cubs' last 10 games against Pittsburgh.

Prediction

Last 2 games between these two teams went under the total but this time I'm liking the over. Mark Leiter Jr got pounded in his first start of the season allowing 7 runs so he could be a little unstable on this game. The over has cashed in 4 of 6 games at home for the Cubs. Take the over. 

PICK: Over 8.5 (-110)

Find more sports picks from the top sports bettors and MLB experts all in one place using our iOS and Google Play apps, as well as our other articles at Kingpin.pro.  We are the home for MLB picks, sports picks and sports betting.