The Chicago Cubs will go for a sweep of their three game series with the San Francisco Giants in a matinee game at AT&T Park today. Taking the ball for the Cubs will be ace RHP Carlos Zambrano (14-9, 3.86 ERA) who will be pitching on three days rest and a new $91 million contract. Zambrano pitched three scoreless innings in the postponed game against the Cardinals on Sunday night.
For the Giants, RHP Matt Cain gets the nod and will be seeking his second straight win. While Cain (5-13) hasn’t accumulated many wins this season, his pitching has been solid as his 3.78 ERA shows.
Oddsmakers at Sportsbetting.com like the Cubs chances of a sweep installing them a slight -122 money line favorite and have opened the total at 7.5. While taking into account the low ERA of today’s starting pitchers, oddsmakers favor the total to slip under for the second straight day with a -125 price while the over backers are getting +105. Giants backers will be getting +112 ml juice as the home underdog.
In last nights game, Felix Pie scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning on Wednesday, as the Cubs earned a 4-2 win over the Giants. Chicago won the game at EVEN odds, while the final score fell UNDER the posted over/under (8).
Aramis Ramirez led the Cubs with two RBI, and Carlos Marmol tossed two scoreless innings with four strikeouts to pick up the win.Barry Bonds and Bengie Molina drove in the Giants runs in a losing effort. Patrick Misch gave up two runs to get tagged with the loss.
Zambrano will be looking for his first win since signing his new $91.5 million deal on August 14th. The new contract makes Zambrano the highest paid pitcher with an annual salary of $18.3 million surpassing Giants pitcher Barry Zito’s $18 million.
