Posted on 4/9/2008 3:35:03 PM

MLB Baseball Betting - Cubs vs. Pirates

By Mike Rose

The Cubs and Pirates pick back up Wednesday evening after taking the day off on Tuesday. Sports bettors see the Cubs enter tonight’s game with a 4-3 mark, and a perfect 1-0 mark on the road after picking up the extra innings victory in game one of this three game set on Monday afternoon. However, we here at BetUS sports book know we’ll see the Pirates looking to build on its 3-4 record as well.

Monday afternoon’s battle between the Cubs and Buccos was a wild one to say the least. Chicago pounded Pittsburgh starter Tom Gorzelanny into the ground early and often as they punished him for 6 hits and 7 earned runs in just 2 1/3rd innings of work. Ted Lilly was cruising up until the 4th inning where he was the unfortunate beneficiary of a pair of errors that allowed the Pirates to put five runs on the board. The game was then eventually tied up in the 7th inning at eight a piece after Cubs 2B Mark DeRosa committed another error. After both clubs seemingly emptied their benches and bullpens, the Cubs took advantage in the 12th inning by scratching across two runs and held on to win by the 10-8 final.

The last time the Cubs had a seven-run lead and lost was June 28, 2002, when they had an 8-0 lead against the White Sox, who rallied for a 13-9 win. Tuesday's off day comes at a good time for the Cubs pitchers. They combined to issue a season-high eight walks. "I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty," Cubs skipper Lou Piniella said.

Ryan Dempster gets the nod for game two of this series after picking up his first win since 2005 as a starter against the Brewers. In that outing, he gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits over six innings while striking out five and walking a pair.

Getting the start for the Pirates will be Zach Duke who’s coming off a confidence building start against Atlanta. Zach had a horrific 2007 season plagued by injuries, but he’s fully healthy now and he’s tinkered with his approach making him look more confident on the bump. He’s 4-2 with a 2.10 Era in 8 career starts against the Chicago Cubs.

Ryan Dempster and the Cubs have been tagged –135 road favorites with the ‘total’ set at 9.5 over (–120) for this contest. You can get down on both the ‘side’ and ‘total’ at BetUS.com right now!!!

Pittsburgh went 5-4 SU against the Cubs at home last season, and the under went 5-3-1 in those games. That said, the Cubs have taken four in a row from the Pirates and the over has cashed in four of their last five meetings.

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