BetUS $500 Match Bonus
Sign up for a new account with BetUS and deposit $500 or more to get a $500 match bonus!

$20 Free Play at Sportsbook.com
Your first bet is free when you open a new account at sportsbook.com!

Chicago Cubs at Houston Astros: Baseball Odds & Picks

Written April 8, 2009 by Jordan Haimowitz

cubs-astros-preview-040809 The Cubs enter this year fresh off last season’s first round playoff collapse. The 2008 Chicago Cubs gave off a vibe that really made people think that the Billy Goat curse would be no more. Zambrano, Dempster, Harden and Lilly led a power staff with Kerry Wood staying healthy and being a productive closer. Aramis, Derek Lee and Soriano were terrific as Mark DeRosa had a career year. The playoffs started and all hell broke loose in Chicago. All of a sudden the cubs potent lineup couldn’t hit and their power staff was getting rocked. The curse started to re-appear as the Dodgers swept the Cubs and the dreadful off season began. This year, there are some faces missing. Kerry Wood signed with the Indians as did DeRosa. They brought in Milton Bradley but that is about it. Lee and Aramis are now one year older and Kosuke Fukudome has been utterly disappointing. With all this said, the Cubs are still the most talented team in their division and a probable playoff team. Tonight they send Ted Lilly to the mound.Lilly is a career 3-1 against the Astros with an excellent 2.52 ERA. Chicago will score their fair share of runs this year, it will be on the pitching staff to have another stellar season. I think the Cubs have a formidable bunch, a little overrated though. Looking at the MLB odds for tonight, the Cubs are -127 and the total has been set at 9 runs.

The Houston Astros look to start this year the way they ended last season, on fire. They nearly made a miraculous comeback to clinch a wild card but fell short in the last week. they went out and added Ivan Rodriguez to play catcher. Michael Bourn is looking to have a bounce back year, while he did swipe 40 bases last year his BA (batting average) and OBP (on base percentage) were sub par. Carlos Lee and lance Berkman appear to be in good health and the emergence of Hunter Pence as a star appears to be in process. Along with Oswalt and young gun Wandy Rodriguez, seasoned veteran Brian Moehler is coming off one of his best seasons. He went 11-8 and totaled 150 innings pitched for only the second time in his last eight seasons. The Astros split the first two meetings to open the season with the Cubs. If the Astros do not take this game then they most likely will lose the opening series at home 3-1. The next game the Cubs would have the decisive edge in pitching as they have much more depth on the mound. The x-factor for the Astros tonight will be Miguel Tejada who has started the season hitting .571 with a look of rejuvenation in his eyes. The picks are below.

Haimo’s Hot Notes: The Cubs are 11-4 in their last 15 Wednesday games overall. The Astros are 22-8 in their last 30 home games. However, the trend that I took a liking to was the OVER is 9-3 in Ted Lilly’s last 12 road starts. I see that trend continuing to roll tonight with a slight cubs victory and a definite over coming through. While several other trends lean towards the under, the reason for that is the line is often so inflated due to the ball park Houston plays in (similar to sand box). Tonight it stands at only nine runs. Lets Roll.

Jordan’s Picks: Cubs -127 & OVER 9 Runs

Documented MLB Record:

3-0 OVERALL

1-0 BEST BET

Win more when you bet on MLB this year with expert MLB picks from some of our other industry-leading handicappers. Our staff also offers a wide selection of free baseball picks to help you build your bankroll this year.

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

1 Comment

Comments

One Response to “Chicago Cubs at Houston Astros: Baseball Odds & Picks”

Gary S. on April 8th, 2009 4:16 pm

I agree with your over play too, I am not impressed with Moehler

Reply

Got something to say?