No team is playing better baseball right now than the San Francisco Giants (25-18), who have won eight games in a row, allowing three runs or fewer in their last seven and only one run in four straight.
Regardless, the visiting Chicago Cubs (28-11) are listed as -200 betting favorites (wager $200 to win $100) for Friday’s series opener at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark behind unbeaten ace Jake Arrieta (7-0, 1.29 ERA).
The Giants and Cubs were the two preseason favorites to win the National League pennant. After a slow start, San Francisco is finally living up to those high expectations, while Chicago has dropped three of four and five of eight, including the team’s only pair of consecutive losses this year.
The Giants have won the last two meetings following a five-game losing streak in the series, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database.
Arrieta has been masterful again after winning the NL Cy Young Award in 2015. He has allowed two runs or fewer in seven of his eight starts this season, with the Cubs winning by four runs or more in seven of them as well.
Arrieta’s last regular-season loss took place on July 25, 2015, opposite Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies, who threw a no-hitter. That was the second time in the regular season he gave up as many as three earned runs since last June 16, although he surrendered four twice last postseason.
San Francisco will also be giving the ball to a Jake here—one who is barely holding on to a spot in the starting rotation. Jake Peavy (1-4, 7.43) has been brutal for the most part this year, but he is coming off his best outing on the road against the Arizona Diamondbacks last Saturday. Peavy allowed a season-low one run and three hits in six innings with two walks and five strikeouts.
The Giants had lost five of his previous six starts, with him giving up four runs or more four times during that stretch.
With Arrieta and Peavy on the mound, there is a good chance there will be a lot of runs scored and the total will go over. In Arrieta’s eight starts, the over is 7-1, compared to 6-2 for Peavy. The over is also 5-2 in the past seven meetings between the teams overall.
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