Mets meet Cubs in familiar heavyweight pairing
It’s a rematch of the 2015 NLCS, and the Cubs have their pair of staff workhorses locked and loaded for two straight primetime contests.
That’s manager Joe Maddon’s hope, at least, after John Lackey faltered in Sunday’s finale vs. Texas. Jon Lester draws tonight’s opener vs. the Mets, with a 7:05 p.m. ET first pitch at Wrigley Field. Oddsmakers at online sports book BetDSI like Chicago here, whereas New York represents a +135 underdog. The over/under run figure holds at 7.5.
Before 12-game winner Jake Arrieta toes the hill tomorrow, Lester gets the first crack at upending Terry Collins’ club. Two weeks ago at Citi Field, though, the southpaw served up a season-high eight runs in a career-low 1 ½ innings. Lester has actually surrendered 12 runs in his past two starts. He had allowed just 24 runs total in his first 16 appearances.
For the Mets, Steven Matz is busy trying to right himself, too. The second-year sensation was solid on July 10, yielding three runs on six hits across seven frames. June, however, produced a 0-2 mark with a 5.74 ERA. Matz’s most recent victory occurred back on May 25.
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The good news for Collins: Several of the Cubbies’ stalwarts struggle against lefties, including Anthony Rizzo (.221 average in 113 at-bats) and (.221 in 118 plate appearances). Cole Hamels kept them quiet yesterday, and we anticipate that they’ll take a while to warm up this evening. The NL Central leaders should ultimately prevail, but the action won’t truly begin until about halfway through the proceedings.
MONDAY MLB FREE PICK: CUBS -1.5