San Diego Padres vs. Chicago Cubs: Odds, Preview, & Prediction | Thursday, June 16th
San Diego Padres vs. Chicago Cubs Preview: Musgrove continues to dominate
Tonight, the San Diego Padres will look to complete their four-game sweep over the Chicago Cubs. The Padres have dominated this series, and there is great value on one bet. The Padres have quietly been one of the best teams in the MLB so far and will look to continue their winning ways in Chicago. Without further ado, let's get into this preview!
Below, you will find a brief preview of each team followed by a prediction for the game.
San Diego Padres Preview:
Go Pads Go!
#TimeToShine #PadresWin https://t.co/mzsYYazBZl
"Go Pads Go!" - San Diego Padres
The Padres have dominated this series so far, outscoring the Cubs 35-11 over three games. The offense has been on fire, and they will try to continue that success tonight. The Padres have been one of the best road teams in the MLB this season with a record of 23-11 away from their home stadium.
Tonight, the Padres will send Cy Young hopeful Joe Musgrove to the mound. Musgrove has been fantastic this season, with a perfect 7-0 record with an ERA of 1.50. Musgrove hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any of his 11 starts and has faced some really good offenses along the way. Look for Musgrove to continue to dominate his opponents tonight.
The Padres offense will rely on guys like Manny Machado, Jake Cronenworth, and Luke Voit to produce runs in today's ball game. Over the last three games, San Diego is scoring an absurd 11.67 runs per nine innings of the Cubs pitching staff. The key to victory for the San Diego Padres is to keep their focus on the offensive side and to get another quality start from Musgrove.
Chicago Cubs Preview:
Play ball! https://t.co/CnhQsY6y4Z
"Play ball!" - Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs have been a terrible baseball team when playing at home this season. At Wrigley Field, the Cubs hold a record of 11-23. They have lost nine games in a row, including five straight losses at home. They have struggled to keep opposing teams off the scoreboard during this stretch and have another bad matchup tonight. The Cubs offense has been middle of the pack so far this year. However, they haven't been efficient over this rough stretch. They have had to rely on a lot of minor leaguers because of some injuries to their normal lineup.
The Cubs will send rookie Matt Swarmer to the mound. Through three starts, Swarmer has a 1-1 record, with an ERA of 4.24. He's coming off a tough start against the Yankees where he gave up six earned runs through five innings pitched. The most concerning part of that start is that he gave up six home runs. Look for the Padres to take advantage of this matchup. The obvious key to victory for the Cubs is to keep the Padres scoring to a minimum.
Pick/Prediction: San Diego Padres F5 -0.5 (-124)
This value is amazing given the statistics shared above. The clear advantage falls with the Padres in every aspect of this game. We're going with Joe Musgrove to continue his dominance and the San Diego Padres to lead this game after five innings of play. Let's go Padres!