The Chicago Cubs will be the MLB betting favorites to win the second game of their three-game series against the San Diego Padres tonight at Petco Park. Here are the odds for the people who will bet on baseball tonight at 10:10 PM (ET):
Cubs -1½ (-140) 8 (EV) -240
Padres +1½ (+120) 8 (-120) +220
The Cubs opened the three-game set with a 5-1 win over the Padres yesterday. Chicago starter Jon Lester kept San Diego to a single run on five hits across more than six innings in his first career start at Petco Park. The Padres offense finished 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position. Addison Russell, Kris Bryant and Jason Heyward all hit home runs for the Cubs. In addition to hitting a homer, Russell made the catch of the day, stealing a potential hit and RBI from Wil Myers. San Diego starter Edwin Jackson – who ironically is still on the Cubs’ payroll after his release over a year ago – was tagged with the five runs. Chicago is on an MLB betting roll, having won 20 of the past 25 games.
The Cubs Jake Arrieta (15-5, 2.75 ERA) will make his 25th start of the season tonight, hoping to recover from his last outing versus the Milwaukee Brewers on August 18th, when he walked a career-high seven batters and surrendered five earned runs and two home runs. The right-hander has a 3.46 walks-per-nine innings average this season, his highest since 2013. Arrieta is 9-2 with a 3.29 ERA in away games. Additionally, he has a 2.80 ERA in seven career starts in Petco Park.
On the other hand, Christian Friedrich (4-9, 4.69 ERA) may be making his last start of the season. The left-handed pitcher is closing in on 100 major league innings – not counting his minor league output –, almost twice the 58 1/3 innings he threw last season with the Colorado Rockies. And yet, this will be his first start versus the Cubs. Friedrich gave up only two runs in 6 2/3 innings in a loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on August 17th.
Other tidbits that MLB betting fans might want to know about include the facts that Cubs hitters have combined to hit .308 (4-for-13) against Friedrich, and also that Anthony Rizzo – whom the Cubs traded pitcher Andrew Cashner and outfielder Kyung-Min Na to the Padres for – entered this particular series hitting just .167/.298/.314 in his career at Petco Park, which is his third-lowest OPS at any NL field. Currently, the Cubs lead the National League Central Division with 79 wins and 45 losses (.637%), while the SD Padres are next-to-last in the National League West Division with a 53-72 record (.424%), 16.5 games behind division leaders Los Angeles Dodgers. Furthermore, the Padres are 14 games behind the San Francisco Giants in the National League Wild Card race. The last time these two teams met back in May, the Padres won the three-game series 2-1, including a victory over Lester, which is safe to say the Cubs starter avenged last night.
