The Chicago Cubs are inarguably the best team in baseball, and they possess one of the top pitching staffs in the bigs as well. They’ll turn to another one of their big guns when Jon Lester gets the start against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.
- The Pirates are 1-6 in their last 7 games following a loss.
- The UNDER is 11-1 in the Cubs' last 12 home games.
- The Pirates are 1-8 in the last 9 meetings.
Cubs starting pitchers have posted a 1.65 ERA over the past 20 games. Lester (8-3, 1.89 ERA) shut out the Pirates over 5.5 innings in a win on May 4 and allowed one run over 6.5 innings in a loss on May 16.
Pittsburgh will turn to Jonathan Niese. Niese (6-3, 4.60) has owned a 2.15 ERA over a six-start span in which he posted five quality starts. He’ll have to watch out for Jason Heyward, who is 9-for-28 with two homers and two doubles against the hurler.
Odds Shark computer score prediction models pick a possible 7.2-0.8 win for the Cubs on Saturday. View the computer score prediction and who will win the pick on the moneyline for all upcoming MLB matchups here.
Pittsburgh Pirates vs Chicago Cubs Matchup
Team Betting Records & Power Rankings
The Chicago Cubs sport a record of 45-20 heading into this matchup, while the Pittsburgh Pirates sit at 33-34 on the season Stay Informed: follow us on Twitter for odds specials, betting line moves and Chicago vs Pittsburgh injuries news.
The Chicago Cubs sit at No. 1 in the current MLB power poll here at Odds Shark, while the Pittsburgh Pirates sit at No. 27 on the same chart.
Statistical Matchup
Offensively, the game matches up Chicago Cubs No. 2 ranked offense (5.38 runs per game) against a Pittsburgh Pirates defense and pitching staff that sits at No. 21 at 4.72 runs allowed per game. The Chicago Cubs have been averaging 8.62 hits per game, less than the Pittsburgh Pirates have managed so far this season (9.31 hits on average).
Comparing defensive stats, Pittsburgh owns the No. 25-rated road mark, allowing 4.97 runs per game on the highway. Chicago, on the other hand, rates No. 6 in scoring at home.
Recent Outings Betting Recap
The Pirates were shut out in their last start, struggling to get much going against the Chicago staff and losing 6-0 to the Cubs on Friday at Wrigley Field.
- Pittsburgh is 1-7 ATS in its last 8 games
- Pittsburgh is 1-8 SU in its last 9 games
- The total has gone OVER in 6 of Pittsburgh's last 9 games
- Pittsburgh is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
- Chi Cubs is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games
- Chi Cubs is 16-6 SU in its last 22 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 14 of Chi Cubs's last 20 games
- Chi Cubs is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
Next Betting Matchups
Pittsburgh at Chicago, Sunday, June 19th
