Cubs vs Mets Betting Odds, Expert Analysis, Picks & Prediction

On Friday, the Chicago Cubs will play a matinée baseball game against the New York Mets. Shota Imanaga, a candidate for NL Rookie of the Year, will be pitching. The Cubs are favored on the MLB odds.

Both teams are in the wild-card race.

MLB Odds: Cubs -150, Mets +130 (total 8.5)
Score Prediction: Cubs 5, Mets 3

New York Mets

The Mets had a season-high seven-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday, 5-3 in Texas, as New York attempted to get within a game of .500.

The Rangers didn’t have a hit until the sixth inning Wednesday, but Leody Taveras entered the game on defense in the seventh and then hit a tie breaking two-run homer in the bottom of the inning.

Slugger Pete Alonso went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in the loss. Alonso gave New York a two-run lead with his blast to center field in the sixth inning.

The long ball continued a hot stretch for the first baseman, as he’s in the midst of a five-game hitting streak during which he’s batted .391 (9-for-23) with two homers and 10 RBI.

Alonso is up to 16 home runs and 42 RBI on the campaign, along with 42 runs and a .243/.321/.475 slash line.

Even with the loss, the Mets have won 11 of their past 14 games and have won or split each of their past six series.

The Mets also have to be feeling good of late about closer Edwin Diaz. The player did not do well in May, but has improved since coming back from an injury. He has not given up any runs and has saved two games in his last three appearances.

It’s lefty and former Cub Jose Quintana (2-5, 4.98 ERA) on the mound Friday. Quintana earned the win over San Diego last Saturday, allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striking out six batters over six innings.

The only run Quintana allowed came on a fifth-inning Jackson Merrill solo homer. That was the only hit Quintana surrendered, aside from a Fernando Tatis double in the first frame.

Quintana induced eight whiffs on 31 swings for a 26 percent whiff rate and 30 percent CSW. The Padres hit the ball at an average speed of 85 mph, thanks to Quintana’s strong pitching.

The Padres hit the ball at an average speed of 85 mph because of Quintana’s strong pitching. Quintana allowed less than two runs in a game for the fourth time this season. It was the first time this led to a win.

In fact, it was Quintana’s first overall win since April 11. Coincidentally, that was the last time Francisco Alvarez was behind the plate for one of Quintana’s starts, and the veteran was sure to give the 23-year-old plenty of credit for the game he called.

Jose Quintana made a concerted effort to work inside to keep them off the plate to set up his off-speed stuff, and it worked.

Quintana is 0-4 with a 3.17 ERA in eight career appearances against his former Cubs team. He hasn’t faced them since 2022 while with St. Louis.

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Chicago Cubs

The Cubs have been struggling lately, but they won their last two games. They beat the Giants 6-5 on Wednesday. The Chicago bullpen almost lost the game when Jorge Soler hit a grand slam in the eighth inning. However, Colten Brewer managed to pitch around two walks in the ninth inning and got his first save.

It was newsworthy that Brewer got the call, as usual closer Hector Neris was not used. He took the loss and blew a save against the Giants on Monday, allowing three runs (two earned) in an inning of work, and he’s allowed a total of seven earned runs over his last three outings.

The veteran’s ERA has climbed to 4.73 as a result of his recent struggles, and he’s blown four saves this year in 14 chances. Chicago manager Craig Counsell said following Monday’s game that he didn’t plan on making a change at closer.

Ian Happ and Dansby Swanson hit back-to-back homers in the win. Swanson went 2-for-4 with that solo home run and two additional RBI. Swanson went deep for the second straight game against San Francisco, giving him eight home runs for the season.

The shortstop is still off to a sluggish start overall with a .214 average and .660 OPS across 64 contests, but following his career-high six game hitless streak (June 12-17), Swanson has recorded two home runs and three RBI in the last two games (.375/3-for-8).

Happ hit his third homer in the past five games, following a homerless span of 11 games. He also has a career high five-straight multi-hit efforts, batting .500 (10-for-20) during the stretch. Happ has eight RBI in that span.

Michael Busch went 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to a career-high eight games, batting .400 (8-for-20).

Chicago is now 8-9 in three-game series in 2024 and beating the Giants was their first three-game series win since May 10-12 at Pittsburgh (2-1).

It’s ace lefty Shota Imanaga (7-1) on the mound. Imanaga picked up the win in last Saturday’s 5-1 victory over the Cardinals, allowing one run on four hits over seven innings.

He struck out six without walking a batter and induced 14 swinging strikes, with a dozen of them coming on his splitter/sweeper combo, and allowed just seven batted balls with an exit velocity in excess of 95 mph.

The 30-year-old rookie delivered his eighth quality start in his first 13 big-league outings on 103 pitches (69 strikes), with the only run against Imanaga coming after a leadoff double by Alec Burleson in the fourth inning.

Imanaga will take a 1.89 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 78:11 K:BB through 76 innings into Friday. Chicago is 11-2 in his 13 starts. Imagana has never faced the Mets, who also looked into signing him this offseason from Japan.

Bet Mets at Cubs MLB Odds

When: Friday, 2:20 PM ET
Where: Wrigley Field
Pitchers (away/home): Jose Quintana/Shota Imanaga
TV: MLB Extra Innings

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99 year old former negro league pitcher with a better first pitch than 50 Cent pic.twitter.com/0SjiNQkhEb
— MyBookie – Bet With The Best (@MyBookie) June 20, 2024