Blue Jays vs. Cubs Pick
Are the favored Chicago Cubs going to dispose of the Toronto Blue Jays when the two teams meet at Wrigley Field Friday at 2:20PM EST?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Cubs are a -170 favorite to win. The Bluejays are set as a +145 underdog, while the over-under has not yet been set due to wind factors.
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The Blue Jays send lefty J.A. Happ (6-8, 3.63 ERA) to the mound and the Cubs counter with Jake Arrieta (12-8, 3.73 ERA). Happ has been strong in his three August starts, allowing exactly one earned run in each game over a total of 18 2/3 innings for a 1.45 ERA. He comes into the contest with a 1.30 WHIP and has allowed more than two earned runs only three times over his last 12 starts. Arrieta has shown good form through the months of July and August, posting a 2.25 ERA in five July starts before dipping to a 1.86 ERA in his three starts since the month turned. The Cubs have won three of his last four starts. Arrieta owns a 1.20 WHIP.
This is the opener of a three-game interleague series. Chicago is coming off a 13-10 loss to the Reds, while Toronto has won two in a row. These two teams last met in 2014 when the Blue Jays swept a three-game series in Toronto.
Toronto (59-62, 25-33 on road) is coming off a 5-3 home win over the Rays as Justin Smoak hit a tie-breaking two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning. Josh Donaldson added two home runs. The Cubs were throttled at Wrigley Field Thursday as Jon Lester was shelled for nine runs (seven earned) in the second inning alone, putting the hosts in a 9-0 hole. Chicago climbed completely out of the hole as it tied the score at 9-9 after a five-run fourth and three-run fifth, but Cincinnati got to the Cubs bullpen in the last three innings.
Chicago will be salty after only splitting a four-game home series against the lowly Reds, especially in the middle of a pennant race. Arrieta has been good of late and there is no reason to fade the Cubs.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: CHICAGO CUBS -170