Basketball Betting

Cubs carry hot bats into Steel City

Baseball Betting Lines

05/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting their offense to break out in a home series over the weekend, the Chicago Cubs hit the road for six straight games beginning with tonight's first of three straight meetings with the Pittsburgh Pirates from PNC Park.

The Cubs enter the Steel City off three consecutive victories over visiting Arizona in which the club racked up 28 runs and swatted eight homers. Chicago went deep three times in Sunday's finale, with Alfonso Soriano homering twice to pace a 15-hit barrage that led to a 10-5 triumph over the Diamondbacks.

Soriano finished the day 3-for-4 with four RBI and drove in a whopping 10 runs over the Cubs' three wins in the four-game set. He belted four homers and batted a scorching .636 (7-for-11) as well during that time frame.

Marlon Byrd also homered while knocking in three runs in Sunday's win, with Chad Tracy adding three hits, including an RBI single, and crossing the plate three times.

Chicago battered Arizona starter Edwin Jackson for eight runs and 11 hits over the first four innings.

"[Jackson's] a guy where you just have to wait for your pitch," said Byrd. "We got a day where he was a little bit off his game, and we're swinging the bats well, so it was a good combination for us."

Tom Gorzelanny (1-3) was far more effective for the Cubs, with the left-hander establishing a career high with 10 strikeouts and holding Arizona to two runs over seven innings to notch his first win of the season.

Chicago's big bats will be taking their swings against a Pittsburgh pitching staff that has combined for a major league-worst 6.79 earned run average so far this season and was beat up again in Sunday's 9-3 loss at Los Angeles. The Dodgers banged out 16 hits, seven of which went for extra bases, in dealing the Bucs a third straight loss.

Most of the Dodgers' damage came against Jeff Karstens (0-1), with the Pirates starter being tagged for six runs and 11 hits in just five innings of work.

"Too many balls were elevated," Karstens said. "Every ball they hit was elevated."

Garrett Jones and Bobby Crosby both went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Pittsburgh, which finished 3-7 on a 10-game road trip through Houston, Milwaukee and Los Angeles.

Paul Maholm will attempt to get the Pirates back on track when he takes the ball for tonight's opener. The southpaw has been one of the team's better hurlers in the early going, having pitched into the seventh inning in each of his last three starts.

Maholm allowed four runs over seven frames in each of his past two outings, a loss at Houston on April 23 and a no-decision against Milwaukee last Wednesday. In his most recent appearance at home, the former first-round pick limited Cincinnati to two runs and four hits over a solid 6 2/3 innings to earn his lone victory of the season.

The 27-year-old sports a 4-1 record in nine career starts against the Cubs despite having compiled a 7.06 earned run average during that span. Maholm was hit hard in his only encounter with Chicago last season, a four-inning stint at Wrigley Field in which he was rocked for seven runs on seven hits.

Soriano has homered three times off Maholm in the past and owns a .333 (6- for-18) lifetime average off the Pirates starter.

Ryan Dempster gets the call for Chicago this evening and will be vying for a fourth consecutive winning decision over Pittsburgh. The veteran righty was 2-0 in three starts versus Pittsburgh a year ago and shut out the Bucs on a five-hitter last September at Wrigley Field.

Although he has not lost to Pittsburgh since September 5, 2006, Dempster is just 6-7 with a 5.46 ERA over 42 career appearances against the Pirates, 17 of which have come as a starter. However, he's posted a 3-0 mark with a 3.73 ERA through five starts in this series over the previous two seasons.

The right-hander, who turned 33 on Monday, had won back-to-back decisions before being dealt a tough-luck loss by Washington last Wednesday. Dempster worked a season-high eight innings against the Nationals and allowed three runs on only four hits, but wound up on the wrong end of a 3-2 decision.

In five overall starts thus far in 2010, Dempster has gone 2-1 with a strong 2.78 ERA and has held opposing hitters to a .197 average.

Chicago went 10-4 against the Pirates last season, including a 5-1 record at PNC Park, and has prevailed in 15 of the past 19 matchups between these National League Central foes. The Cubs have emerged victorious in eight of their last nine games played at PNC Park.