Keep on Rolling
The Chicago Cubs have left little doubt they are one of baseball’s best teams within the ivy-covered surroundings of Wrigley Field.
Proving they’re among the game’s elite on the road will take a lot more convincing.
Armed with baseball’s best record and coming off a perfect seven-game homestand, the Cubs will open a seven-game trip to the West Coast on Monday night when they play the San Diego Padres.
Oddsmakers from Sportsbook.com have made Chicago -175 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 7.5 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 77% of bets for this game have been placed on Chicago -175 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Chicago (36-21) has played 17 of its last 23 games at home and now finds itself with the best record in the majors.
The Cubs went 15-2 at Wrigley Field during that stretch, and capped a 7-0 homestand on Sunday with a 5-3 victory over Colorado. It was the first perfect homestand of at least seven games for Chicago since April 14-26, 1970.
"At the end of the day, you should play better at home," second baseman Mark DeRosa said. "You run into one bad road trip, it looks worse than it is."
While their 26 home wins are the most in baseball, the Cubs are 7-13 away from home since a sweep of Pittsburgh in early April. They’ve lost five consecutive road series, and beginning with their three games against San Diego (23-35), will play 23 of their next 32 games away from Wrigley Field.
"We’ll get a pretty good gage of where we’re at," manager Lou Piniella said.
Chicago has baseball’s best record at the beginning of June for the first time since 1908 – the season of its last World Series victory – and it’s gotten there primarily due to baseball’s best offense.
Though the Cubs lead the majors with 324 runs and a .286 batting average, where they play has certainly made a difference. They’re averaging 6.4 runs and hitting .309 at home, while they’re scoring just 4.6 a game and batting .255 on the road.
Left fielder Alfonso Soriano – who’s homered in his last two games – is hitting .330 at Wrigley as opposed to .231 on the road, while right fielder Kosuke Fukudome is hitting .377 at home and .207 away from Chicago’s north side.
Ace Carlos Zambrano (7-1, 2.33 ERA), however, has been good regardless of where he’s pitched. He’s 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA in his last three road starts, and is coming off an impressive outing at home.
He didn’t receive a decision, but went eight innings while allowing one run on Wednesday in the Cubs’ 2-1 win over Los Angeles.
Zambrano beat the Padres on May 12 as he gave up three runs in seven innings of a 12-3 victory. He’s 5-1 with a 1.44 ERA in his last seven starts against San Diego, and hasn’t allowed a run in 14 career innings at Petco Park.
The Padres have won five of seven, but still have the second-worst record in the NL. They failed to complete a three-game sweep in San Francisco on Sunday, losing 4-3 in 10 innings after Adrian Gonzalez’s two-run homer had given them a 3-1 lead in the top of the 10th.
Gonzalez, who has seven homers and 21 RBIs in his last 15 games, has carried a Padres’ offense that is last in the NL with 210 runs. But injuries have taken a toll on San Diego’s pitching staff, which is missing starters Jake Peavy and Chris Young.
The rotation took another hit when Shawn Estes, who was due to start Monday, fractured the tip of his left thumb on Saturday falling down a flight of stairs.
"I just fell … I stepped wrong," Estes told the team’s official Web site. "I put my hand down to catch myself and my body weight came down on my thumb."
With Estes on the 15-day disabled list, the Padres will turn to Cha Seung Baek (1-1, 5.23), who was acquired from Seattle last week.
Baek, who mainly pitched out of the bullpen with the Mariners, was impressive in his San Diego debut. He earned the win by striking out the side in one inning on Friday in the Padres’ 7-3, 13-inning victory over the Giants.
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