The San Diego Padres try to push their winning streak to three games when they face the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night. After winning the first two games of the series, the Padres are slight underdogs on Wednesday with a moneyline of +100 compared to Chicago’s moneyline of -120. There is also an ambitious over/under of 11.5 runs.
With their loss on Tuesday, the Cubs continue to spiral with eight straight losses. They are now 15 games under .500 and 12.5 games out of first place in the NL Central. The worst part for the Cubs is that they are now 11-22 at home this year, gaining no advantage this season from the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.
Meanwhile, their two wins in Chicago this week have given the Padres six wins in their last eight games. Combined with the Dodgers having some struggles lately, San Diego has now pulled even with Los Angeles atop the NL West standings. In fact, the Padres now have the second-most wins in the National League and are 15 games over .500.
Stormy Weather
The Padres are set to call up Ryan Weathers from the minors to start Wednesday’s game. The 22-year-old got off to a brilliant start as a rookie last year, only to hit a wall and end up 4-7 with a 5.32 ERA over 18 starts and 12 relief appearances. Weathers has also had problems in triple-A this season, posting a 7.29 ERA in 12 starts, although with Mike Clevinger unavailable, the Padres will bring up Weathers to maintain a six-man rotation.
The good news is the Padres are likely to provide the 22-year-old with plenty of run support. The Padres scored 12 runs in Tuesday’s win and have now scored at least four runs in 10 of their last 13 games. Since the calendar flipped to June, Jake Cronenworth and Nomar Mazara have arguably been San Diego’s best hitters, providing some depth behind Manny Machado, who is having an MVP-caliber season thus far.
Fresh Meat
The Cubs will also call on their farm system for Wednesday’s game, calling up Caleb Kilian from the minors for his second career start. In a start against St. Louis earlier this month, the 25-year-old held his own, giving up three runs on three hits over five innings, striking out six, and walking two. Kilian has also been excellent at triple-A this year, pitching to a 2.51 ERA over 10 starts.
Of course, the Cubs are averaging just 2.6 runs per game during their eight-game losing streak. They are currently without Seiya Suzuki, although both Willson Contreras and Ian Happ are having all-star caliber seasons. Both Contreras and Happ are red-hot at the moment, although the rest of the Chicago lineup has predictably struggled over the last week.
Ride the Wave
With Weathers on the mound, the Padres are appropriately listed as underdogs in this game. However, given Chicago’s recent struggles and poor home record, San Diego has a ton of value in this game. Bet on the Padres to keep it rolling and beat the Cubs again on Wednesday.
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