Happy Jake Day!
Man, that feels good to say again.
This afternoon, Arrieta will make his first regular season start for the Chicago Cubs since September 26th, 20217. His actual last start for the Cubs, however, was actually Game 4 of the 2017 NLCS against the Dodgers, and it was a solid overall effort, resulting in the Cubs only win that series (and their last playoff win overall): 6.2 IP, 3H, 1ER, 5BB, 9Ks.
Of course, because he won that game, I had to pay way too much money to sit through a cold, sh*tty, rainy, terrible Game 5 loss at Wrigley Field. So … make it up to me, Jake.
Both the pirates (Anthony Alford for Dustin Fowler) and Cubs (Jake Marisnick for Ian Happ) are swapping center fielders today, but the Pirates lineup looks a little more like the opener than the Cubs.
Odds:
The Cubs are once again -1.5 run favorites for this afternoon’s matchup against the Pirates, according to the FanDuel Illinois Sportsbook (-168 ML) and the DraftKings Illinois Sportsbook (-162 ML). PointsBet has them at -167 on the money, with the same spread.
You can sign up for each of those books below, and get yourself a nice deposit bonus in the process.
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Game Info
Pittsburgh Pirates (1-0) at Chicago Cubs (0-1) – Saturday, April 1st at 1:20 CT on Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score
Starting Pitchers
Pirates: Tyler Anderson (L)
versus
Cubs: Jake Arrieta (R)
Chicago Cubs (Lineup Discussion):
1. Willson Contreras, C
2. Kris Bryant, 3B
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Javy Baez, SS
5. Joc Pederson, LF
6. Jake Marisnick, CF
7. Jason Heyward, RF
8. David Bote, 2B
9. Jake Arrieta, P
Pittsburgh Pirates:
1. Adam Frazier, 2B
2. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Bryan Reynolds, LF
4. Colin Moran, 1B
5. Kevin Newman, SS
6. Gregory Polanco, RF
7. Jacob Stallings, C
8. Dustin Fowler, CF
9. Chad Kuhl, P