The Pittsburgh Pirates have played their way back into the playoff race with a 13-3 record over their last 16 games. The Pirates can put a small dent into Chicago’s lead in the NL Central with wins in their two-game series against the Cubs starting Tuesday night.
Cubs vs. Pirates 2018 odds: Chicago road betting favorite in Tuesday matchup
The Pittsburgh Pirates clash with the division leading Chicago Cubs Tuesday night at home, with the sportsbooks siding with the road team on the MLB odds.
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Pittsburgh is a +105 home underdog in Tuesday’s series opener at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Jameson Taillon will take the hill for the Pirates squaring off against Chicago ace Jon Lester and the Cubs at -125 on the road.
Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates
When: Tuesday, July 31, 7:05 p.m. ET
Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh
Betting Line / Total: Chicago -125 / 8 Runs
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates settled for a disappointing 2-2 series split against the New York Mets over the weekend after failing to score a run in a 1-0 loss on Sunday. Even with the disappointing result, Pittsburgh hasn’t lost a series since losing two of three in a July 6-8 series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Pittsburgh is 15-4 over its last 19 games including a perfect 8-0 record against division rivals over that stretch. Entering Tuesday, the Pirates are seven games behind Chicago in the NL Central and four games back in the NL Wild Card race.
In their last 21 games as a home underdog, the Pirates are 14-7 straight up and 17-4 against the spread per the OddsShark MLB Database. This stretch includes a 3-3 SU and 4-2 ATS record against the Cubs.
Chicago Cubs
Chicago got off to a hot start in the month of July with a 10-3 record, building on the momentum of a three-game win streak at the end of June. But while hot bats were able to mask the problem for the first half of the month, the team’s poor pitching in July caught up to them as they have gone 5-6 over their last 11 games.
The team has allowed 4.52 runs per game this month after ranking fourth best in the majors at the all-star break with a 3.56 ERA. Jon Lester has had his worst month of the year in July but has still led the Cubs to wins in 10 of his last 11 starts.
Tuesday night’s total is set at eight runs. Each of the last four games between these two teams has gone UNDER the posted total. The series will wrap up on Wednesday night with a pitching matchup of Chicago’s newly acquired Cole Hamels vs. Nick Kingham.
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