It's Wednesday, August 28, and it's a special day as baseball fans get to experience the mustached phenom, Paul Skenes. The rookie hurler and the Pittsburgh Pirates (62-70) host the Chicago Cubs (67-66) in a National League Central battle.
Skeptics have looked to poke holes in Skenes' season but here are a few facts. The worst statistical outings for the NL Rookie of the Year favorite are comprised of three outings in which he has allowed 3 runs (twice) and 4 runs (once). That's it. His ERA for the season is 2.16. Paul Skenes started the All-Star Game for the National League. He is must-watch TV.
Meanwhile, the Cubs are making a late push for a Wild Card spot. They have won 2 straight and currently sit 5.5 games out of that final postseason berth.
We've got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first-pitch, projected pitching matchup, lineup cards, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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● Date: Wednesday, August 28, 2024
● Time: 12:35PM EST
● Site: PNC Park
● City: Pittsburgh, PA
● TV/Streaming: MARQ, SNP, MLBN
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● The Cubs have won 2 in a row and are 7-3 in their last 10. Chicago is 31-37 away from Wrigley Field this season. Their overall run differential for the season is +32.
● Pittsburgh has lost 2 in a row. The Bucs are 4-6 in their last 10. Pittsburgh is 32-35 at PNC Park. Their overall run differential for the season is -42.
● Today's pitching matchup (August 28): Kyle Hendricks vs. Paul Skenes
○ Cubs: Hendricks (3-10, 6.33 ERA) has allowed 71 earned runs and 117 hits while striking out 67 over 101 innings
○ Pirates: Skenes (8-2, 2.16 ERA) has allowed 25 earned runs and 73 hits while striking out 130 over 104 innings
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● Paul Skenes has won his last 2 starts. He has pitched 12 innings and allowed a mere 2 earned runs (1.50 ERA) over those 2 starts while striking out 15.
● Jared Triolo of the Bucs is 2-5 (.400) in his career against Kyle Hendricks
● Kyle Hendricks is 0-1 in 3 starts this month. He has allowed 6 earned runs in 15.2 innings (3.45 ERA)
● The Cubs are 6-0-1 to the OVER in their last 7 games. They are 5-2 on the Run Line in those 7 games.
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today's Cubs vs. Pirates game:
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