The Chicago Cubs have lost Ryan Dempster’s last five starts, but he is awfully tough to beat at home. Will it continue tonight at BroburySports.com?
Milwaukee Brewers (+125) at Chicago Cubs - 8:05 pm ET - Sign-up to wager here
Dempster (4-5, 4.09 ERA) pitched pretty well in June with a 3.23 ERA in five starts, four of them on the road. However, all he had to show for it was an 0-2 record while the Cubs lost all five games due to a lack of run support
For the season, Chicago is 1-9 when Dempster starts on the road and 4-2 at home. Dempster has an amazing 17-4 record at Wrigley over the last year and a half.
He is 1-1 with a 5.84 ERA in two starts at Milwaukee this season.
The pitcher for Milwaukee on Thursday is Seth McClung (3-1, 3.55 ERA). He made his first start of the season versus San Fran last Saturday and gave up three earned runs in four innings.
McClung does have experience starting and he pitched decent in that role last year with a 4-4 record (4.24 ERA) in 12 starts.
Cubs look for spark at Wrigley Field
The start of this four game series is vitally important for Chicago. The Cubs (37-38) sit 3.5 games out of first place in the NL Central behind Milwaukee (42-36).
The Cubs went 3-7 in their recent road trip although they did just take two of three at Pittsburgh. The Cubbies have cost bettors more money on the road than any team in baseball except for the lowly Washington Nationals.
Fortunately for Cubs backers, they return home to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field where they are 21-13 and where they won four straight before their recent road trip.
The big difference at home for Chicago is the bats, as they average almost a run more there (4.67) than on the road (3.70). The team still has to do without injured third baseman Aramis Ramirez who is out until next week, but Milton Bradley was reinserted yesterday after sitting out one game.
Milwaukee is one of the few NL teams to be above .500 on the road (20-18). They have been relying on their hitters of late with inconsistent starting pitching outside of Yovani Gallardo.
They certainly need a quality start out of McClung with Dempster so tough to beat at home.
Bet on this NL Central rivalry at BroburySports.com
