The Pittsburgh Pirates look to emerge victorious in MLB odds action as the Cubs arrive at PNC Park on Saturday.

Paul Maholm, with a record of 4-3 on the season, gets the ball for the Cubs, while the Pirates trot Kevin Correia to the mound in this one. He is 1-5 so far in 2012.



View Chi Cubs vs Pittsburgh Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
The Pirates were listed as -125 moneyline favorites at most sportsbooks tracked by Odds Shark, while oddsmakers set the Sportsbook total around 7.5 earlier on Monday.

Power Rankings:
This game puts the Pirates, most recently No. 16 in the National League Odds Shark MLB Power Rankings, up against the Cubs, who rate a National League No. 11 in the latest survey.



How They Match Up:
At the plate, Pittsburgh owns the No. 16 ranking for hits in the National League at 7 per game. By contrast, the Cubs are rated No. 9 in the same category at 8.3 per game.

Pitching and defensive stats are important baseball handicapping factors and Pittsburgh has the National League's No. 2-ranked defense. In the other dugout, the Cubs own the National League's No. 12 mark in runs allowed.

In their last action, Chicago was a 1-0 loser on the road against the Pirates. Bettors on Pittsburgh at -128 on the moneyline collected their winnings from that game, while the total score (1) sent UNDER bettors home happy as well. Chicago didn't plate a single run in their last outing, shut down by A.J. Burnett in a losing cause, 1-0, against Pittsburgh on Friday.




Chicago Cubs Trends:
When playing on Saturday are 2-8
Before playing Pittsburgh are 5-5
After playing Pittsburgh are 7-3
After a loss are 1-9

Pittsburgh Pirates Trends:
When playing on Saturday are 2-8
Before playing Chi Cubs are 3-7
After playing Chi Cubs are 4-6
After a win are 3-7

A few Cubs at Pirates trends to consider:
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Chi Cubs' last 5 games
Chi Cubs are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Chi Cubs' last 8 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Chi Cubs' last 11 games when playing Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Pittsburgh's last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Pittsburgh's last 7 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Pittsburgh's last 8 games when playing at home against Chi Cubs
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Pittsburgh's last 11 games when playing Chi Cubs


Next up:
Chi Cubs at Pittsburgh, Sunday, May 27