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The Cubs have been playing really strong baseball as of late. They’ll face the Padres in a series finale on Monday, and Chicago has secured at least a split over four games.
The Cubs bounced back after being shut out Saturday with a 7-1 win on Sunday. San Diego has been a disappointment thus far, but there are still a lot of games left to be played. The first pitch from San Diego is scheduled for 9:10 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on ESPN+. Let’s take a look at the best ways to make money on the action.
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The San Diego Padres have lost three of their past five games following Sunday’s loss to the Cubs. Chicago is playing better baseball at this point in the season, so they deserve some respect in this spot.
However, they will be in a difficult situation with Kyle Hendricks on the mound. Hendricks is a ground ball pitcher that has the ability to get bombed on any given night. Nevertheless, San Diego’s inconsistent play is making us lean toward the Cubs on the run line for a very fair price.
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The Chicago Cubs will send Hendricks to the mound on Monday night to solidify a series win over the Padres. He is 0-1 on the season with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. He has only thrown nine innings this season and he has gotten lucky when it comes to allowing runs. The pitcher has given up 12 hits and five walks in his time on the bump, but only allowed four earned runs. He has done a great job keeping the ball in the yard, but this could be tough against the Padres.
As bad as San Diego has played this season, they still have power hitters throughout the lineup. The team has blasted 67 homers, but inconsistency has held them back throughout the year. If San Diego is going to be great against any pitcher this season, it should be Hendricks who consistently misses with sub-90 mph fastballs.
Blake Snell will throw for the Padres, and he hasn’t been good. The pitcher is 1-6 with a 4.5 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. It’s never ideal to bet on Hendricks, but we’d rather take him with one run worth of protection because Snell hasn’t located pitches. He is one of the worst pitchers in baseball on 1-1 counts, and has allowed nine homers on 56 innings with 34 walks. The Cubs have been stepping up at the plate, and Snell gives them the chance to shine. Each pitcher isn’t strong in this game, and Chicago has been the aggressor in this series.
The Chicago Cubs are blessed because they play in one of the worst divisions in baseball in the NL Central. The team is 26-32, but in third place and 5.5 games behind the Brewers. Chicago is 4-6 in their past ten games, but they’ve been doing a lot of good things at the plate. The bullpen has strung together quality innings as well, and this is a perfect combination for the team with just over 100 games remaining.
Hendricks can’t win the game on Monday for the Cubs. Chicago needs to be great at the plate, so look for Patrick Wisdom, Ian Happ, and Nico Hoerner to continue leading the club.
Look for Snell to have a short leash on the mound in a must-win game for the Padres. San Diego doesn’t have the luxury of losing to teams under .500 consistently if they want to make the playoffs. The Padres play in one of the best divisions in baseball in the NL West. The Dodgers aren’t even going all out to win the World Series this year, and they’re still leaps and bounds ahead of San Diego.
The Padres must treat ever game as a must-win, even with an extended number of games remaining. The biggest positive for the Padres is that Fernando Tatis Jr. is having a strong season after missing over a year of games. However, the team’s stars aren’t shining consistently as Juan Soto is the team leader in batting average at .253. The Padres have players capable of hitting .300, so the quality at-bats must improve for the team.
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Tanner Kern has been working in the betting industry since 2020. He currently is a social media content creator at DraftKings and contributes to multiple sites in addition to WSN, including Forbes and VSiN. He is also the cohost of the podcast Ride the Line at WSN.
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