Brendan O’Sullivan dives into his pick and prediction for the Chicago Cubs vs. Texas Rangers game on Saturday, May 9.
The Cubs and Rangers play the second game of their three-game series on Saturday, May 9.
Chicago is a -136 moneyline favorite, while Texas is +113 on DraftKings Sportsbook. The game total is set at over/under eight runs.
Let’s get into a pick and prediction for this Cubs vs. Rangers game.
It took some time, but the Cubs have the best record in the majors at 27-12. They won the first game of this series, which extends their win streak to 10 games. They’ll attempt to make it 11 on Saturday as Edward Cabrera takes the mound.
In his first season with Chicago, Cabrera has lived up to high expectations. He owns a 3.27 ERA across 41.1 innings and seven starts. He’s capable of pitching deep into games, with his shortest start being 5.0 innings and longest at 7.0. His main concern is producing shutouts. Cabrera has allowed exactly three earned runs in five straight games. His first two outings of the season were scoreless, but it’s been consistently three-run performances since.
This requires the Cubs’ offense to produce, but that’s rarely an issue this season. Chicago is the top-ranked team in terms of runs per game (5.51) outdoing the Braves, Yankees and Dodgers. Nico Hoerner, Alex Bregman and Pete Crow-Armstrong headline this lethal lineup, and the role players later in the order have consistently stepped up this year.
That’s trouble for Jack Leiter, who is off to a bad start to his 2026 campaign. The right-hander has a 5.45 ERA across 38.0 innings and seven starts, and has allowed at least three earned runs in five straight games. Sure, it’s similar to Cabrera, but Leiter isn’t pitching into the sixth or seventh inning as often.
The good news is that Leiter has three starts with at least eight strikeouts. The bad news is that the Cubs rank 11th in most strikeouts this season. One of his strengths is neutralized, making an already difficult matchup even more challenging.
The Rangers play this game at home — that’s all the advantage they have in this outing. Chicago has the better pitcher, albeit with some run issues, and the far better offense.
Texas is also struggling of late, losing five of its last six games. Chicago has won 10 straight. Home-field advantage isn’t enough for the Rangers to even the series.
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理，仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。