Baltimore Orioles (43-25) at Chicago Cubs (31-37)
Game Info: Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 2:20 p.m. EST (Wrigley Field)
Betting Odds: Cubs (-130) / Over/Under (8)
Pick: Cubs ML (-130)
Saturday brings us an interleague matchup between the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs inside Wrigley Field, with both squads looking to stay on the hot streak that they are on.
Before flying into Wrigley Field, Baltimore won seven out of their last ten games and were inching closer to the Rays in the top spot in the AL East. In game one on Friday night though, they were bombarded by the Cubs in their home park, losing by a score of 10-3. In that game, Cole Irvin struggled mightily once again, raising his ERA on the year to a shocking 7.66. Even worse, in his four innings pitched, he allowed three home runs. Moving forward to today's game, the O's will throw out veteran right-hander Kyle Gibson, who has had a tremendous bounce back season so far after struggling with the Philadelphia Phillies for a year and a half. Whatever expectations that Baltimore had for him when coming over from Philly have surely been shattered up until this point, as he was only brought in to be a stopgap. Can he slow the bleeding that the Cubs caused in game one to get back into the series?
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Chicago comes into Saturday afternoon's game with a mediocre 32-37 record. Nonetheless, they are on fire right now having won four games in a row. Additionally, albeit them being five games under .500, they only sit a mere 3.0 games back of the NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers. One man that I have my eye on in Saturday's encounter is center fielder, Christopher Morel. After a slow-ish first year in the big leagues in 2022, where he batted .235, he has come out firing this campaign. Over his first hundred or so at-bats, he owns a .301 average, while also adding 12 home runs and 26 RBIs as well. Simply most impressive however, is his OPS, which is at a stellar 1.063. If the Cubs are able to turn their season around completely and battle for a Playoff spot as the year moves along, he will certainly have a say in how true that statement can become. Can Morel build on his 3-5 outburst that he put out on Friday in today's game?
Betting trends to consider in this matchup:
- The over is 5-0 in the last five games for the Cubs
- The over is 15-8-1 when the Cubs have played as the home favorite
- The over is 14-8 when the Orioles have played as the road underdog
In a battle between two teams that are in striking distance of their division foes atop their respective divisions, let's dive into the starting pitching matchup, which I believe will be the deciding factor in today's game that is primed to be a low-scoring one. Despite the fact that Gibson has been a delight for the O's in his first fourteen games pitched, I will side heavily with Justin Steele to anchor it down at home for us. He has been superb in Wrigley Field and even better in day games. Give me the Cubs to pull out another big win!
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