The Milwaukee Brewers (7-9) and Chicago Cubs (12-3) meet for a Thursday evening contest to open a four-game set at Wrigley Field. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Brewers-Cubs MLB betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
Brewers at Cubs: Projected starting pitchers
LHP Brett Anderson vs. RHP Yu Darvish
Anderson has posted a 5.40 ERA through two starts. The 32-year-old southpaw has been on a short leash, making 52 pitches in his season debut and 68 last time out.
- That last start came on Aug. 8, so Anderson heads into Thursday’s contest on a four-day rest. Over his career and across recent seasons, the veteran hurler has been much sharper on five days of rest.
- Anderson has made six career starts at Wrigley Field. Over those half-dozen games, he has scuffled his way to an 8.49 ERA, allowing an OPS of 1.038.
Darvish owns a 2.12 ERA through a trio of starts. The Cubs right-hander has thus far clocked a 15.1% swinging-strike rate and an 8-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
- Darvish is facing the Brewers for a second time this season. He wasn’t especially sharp the first time around (4 IP, 3R allowed on 6H).
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Brewers at Cubs: Key injuries
(Get the latest injury news here.)
Brewers
- RP Ray Black (shoulder) out
- OF Lorenzo Cain (personal) out
Cubs
- 3B Kris Bryant (wrist) questionable
- RP Brad Wiek (hamstring) out
Also see: BaseballHQ Fantasy Baseball
Brewers at Cubs: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 11:10 a.m. ET.
Moneyline (ML)
The Cubs are 8-1 over their last nine games, and they’re 7-1 at home, but Chicago is also 4-0 in one-run games, and its overall win-loss record is outpacing its runs scored profile and its underlying stats beneath those runs.
With all that, the Cubs are overpriced in this one. That’s certainly the case in looking at 2019-20 prices on Darvish starts. Throw in a shaky Chicago bullpen and a left-leaning Milwaukee lineup (which cuts into a Darvish deficiency), and you can get to a point where the Brewers are a near-40% proposition. There’s good value on the BREWERS (+165).
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Dodgers to win returns a profit of $16.50.
Run line/Against the spread (ATS)
PASS on Brewers +1.5 (-134).
Over/Under (O/U)
Dating back to last season, the Under is 8-1-1 over Anderson’s last 10 starts; it’s also 6-2 over the last eight for Darvish. The early weather forecast calls for a pitcher’s breeze off Lake Michigan.
A play on the UNDER 8 (-106) makes sense.
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