It has been a strong season for Oakland, which has continued to make positive headlines. They made moves at the deadline to improve the quality of their pitching staff while signing Nathan Patterson, who threw 96 MPH at a fan event, to a legitimate contract. The team is looking to continue its push for a Wild Card spot in a very talented American League, but if they are able to play .500 ball the rest of the way, they should be in.
Chicago, on the other hand, continues to be deadlocked with the Cardinals and Brewers in a three-dog race for the NL Central title. All of them have kept their paces up and are separated by only a few games, with the stars leading the way. Per Baseball-Reference, the Cubs currently have an 88.3 percent chance of qualifying for the postseason, with the opportunity to get in either as division champions or as a Wild Card.
The moneyline for the A’s is listed at +130, while it is -150 for the Cubs.
A’s Try To Keep It Rolling
Matt Chapman has paced the offense, leading the way with 24 home runs and 64 runs batted in, helping them to overcome a very poor year from Khris Davis (17 HR, 53 RBI, .231 BA). They are primarily a young team, something that has consistently favored the A’s over the years. They have guys who can flat out smack the ball all up and down their lineup, while they bolstered their rotation even further with the additions of Tanner Roark and Homer Bailey.
They will turn to 30-year-old Chris Bassitt for his 19th start of the season. He has posted a 7-5 record with a 3.84 ERA in 100 2/3 innings of work. He has struck out 96 batters while walking 37 and will be trying to pick his up his eighth win. He fired six scoreless innings against Milwaukee in his last outing on July 30.
Cubs Try To Create Space
Injuries have not taken too big a toll on the Cubs this year, but they once again find themselves without Willson Contreras, who was placed on IL for the second time in a month. And it is not clear if Kris Bryant will be available to play for them in this one. They will be looking to Anthony Rizzo and Javy Baez to power them to victory in the series opener at Wrigley. Watch for David Bote and Jason Heyward to look to stay hot and make some big plays at the plate.
Kyle Hendricks will take the mound for his 21st start of the season tonight. He has posted an 8-8 record with a 3.07 ERA in 120 1/3 innings of work. He has struck out 107 batters while walking 25 and been nearly unhittable when pitching at home.
Cubs Take Series Opener
Oakland will have a hard time getting on the board against Kyle Hendricks tonight. Make sure you bet on the Cubbies!
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