Cubs’ Hammel tries to recover against Dodgers
Jason Hammel was almost ripped to shreds last weekend. Having escaped from Colorado’s house of hours, though, will the Cubs’ fourth starter bounce back this afternoon?
Chicago takes on the Dodgers at 4:05 p.m. ET, with online sports book Bovada.lv leaning toward Dave Roberts’ troops. Despite yesterday’s come-from-behind triumph, the Cubbies enter Chavez Ravine as +109 underdogs. The over/under run figure holds steady at 7.5.
Joe Maddon’s crew captured the series opener in extras, 6-4, thanks to Kris Bryant’s two-run clout off Adam Liberatore. The class of the National League improved to 82-45 overall. Chicago’s been downright superb on the road, too, capturing eight of its past 10 affairs away from the Friendly Confines.
Nonetheless, the squad’s recent trip to Denver proved maddening. Hammel (13-6, 3.07 ERA) got shelled for a season-high 10 runs across 3 1/3 frames in an 11-4 rout by the Rockies. The rare misfire halted the veteran’s streak of four consecutive quality starts.
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He’ll square off against the increasingly confident Julio Urias (4-2, 3.95) shortly. The 20-year-old phenom is 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA in four appearances so far in August. In his second career outing vs. the Cubs on June 2, however, Urias served up three dingers.
Chicago has defeated Los Angeles in four of five meetings in 2016, making us somewhat perplexed by handicappers’ love for the host club here. Considering that Bryant’s raking lefties at a .314 clip, he may singlehandedly determine the outcome yet again. In short, stay true to the North Siders.
SATURDAY MLB FREE PICK: CUBS +1.5