Chicago Cubs at Houston Astros 5/28/19 – MLB Pick, Preview, Prediction
In what is going to be a great game again the Cubs are playing the Astros in Houston. This used to be a great rivalry game between the two teams, but when the Astros flipped to the American league it quickly lost a lot of the luster the rivalry used to have. Now, the games are going to be available only in the World Series and the Interleague matchups. The best part is this is a rivalry that can be renewed in this season as the teams have several interleague matchups against each other and that will definitely be front and center in this game here.
Chicago Cubs Preview
The Cubs are 30-21 overall and on the road are 12-11. In the last 5 heading into play on Monday the Cubs have been able to post a 2-3 record.
Hitting for the Cubs has been done at a clip of .258, with 275 runs scored. The Cubs have been able to get a total of 452 runs and 82 homers with a .349 OBP and a .458 slugging. Anthony Rizzo has been the power and run producing leader for the Cubs with a total of 14 homers and 40 RBIs. Willson Contreras has been able to hit at a clip of .320 on the season.
The Cubs pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.82 on the year with a 1.37 WHIP and has allowed the opponent to hit at a clip o .248. The Cubs have walked 200 batters on the year and struck out 457 batters. Jon Lester is the pitcher the Cubs are putting on the mound in this game. Lester has a 3-3 record and a 2.68 ERA. He has ended up getting a total of 47 innings pitched with 47 strikeouts, but has allowed 52 hits and 10 walks.
Houston Astros Preview
The Astros are coming into this game playing hot with a 35-19 record and a 20-7 record at home. The last 5 games heading into play for the Astros saw the team go 2-3 and those games were all played in Houston.
The Astros hitting has been done at a clip of .275 with 279 runs scored. The Astros have been able to get a total of 499 hits on the year while finding the stands 91 times. The Astros have an OBP of .349 and a slugging of .488. The Astros have been led by George Springer on the year with 17 homers and 43 RBIs. Josh Reddick has managed to hit at a clip of .325 this year.
The pitching staff for the Astros has a team ERA of 3.39 and a WHIP of 1.05 and has kept the opponents to hitting at a clip of .207. The Astros have struck out 523 batters while walking 135 batters. Corbin Martin has not thrown a lot for the Astros this year, but has a 1-1 record and a 4.97 ERA. Martin has only thrown 12.2 innings with 14 hits and 12 strikeouts, but has walked 6 batters.
Cubs at Astros Line:
My Free Chicago vs Houston MLB Pick: Chicago Cubs
The Cubs are playing decent ball and have Lester on the mound and he has thrown pretty good for the team so far, but facing the Astros offensive juggernaut it will push Lester and the Cubs staff. What else will be impressive is the way the Astros offense is able to handle the Cubs pitching staff. The wildcard in this game is how well Martin is able to pitch in this game and against the Rizzo led Cubs offense it could be hard for him to do good. Final Score, Chicago Cubs win 5-3.
