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With the sudden retirement of Manager Lou Piniella on Sunday Chicago Cubs fans didn’t think their season could get any worse; until now. The Cubs are up against one of the more powerful bullpen betting systems. It seems as if bettors have noticed as 79 percent of the bettors at Sportsbook.com are on the Nationals. The number opened at Washington -142 and currently sits at -172.
If you haven’t been following the Cubs lately, the 2010 season has become a train wreck. The roster has been decimated by trades, injuries, and overall poor play. At 23-games under .500, they have won just five of their last 25 games. In the most recent loss, yesterday at home to Atlanta, the Cubs’ bullpen was ravaged for nine runs in three innings of work.
At the same time, the Nationals’ bullpen has been pitching very well of late, and comes into Monday night’s contest with a respectable 3.55 ERA & 1.338 WHIP overall. In the last five games, the relief staff has yielded just three runs in 15 innings. That success leads to what has been a highly profitable betting system that could impact Monday night’s game. It reads as follows:
Play Against - Road teams (CHICAGO CUBS) - after a game where the bullpen was rocked for 6 or more earned runs against opponent with a hot bullpen whose WHIP is under 1.000 the last 5 games.
(59-18 over the last 5 seasons.) (76.6%, +37.3 units. Rating = 4*)
The average money line posted in these games was: Team favored with a money line of: -120.6
The average score in these games was: Team 5.1, Opponent 3.7 (Average run differential = +1.5)
The situation's record this season is: (11-1, +8.5 units).
Over the last 3 seasons the situation's record is: (31-12, +15.8 units).
Since 1997 the situation's record is: (148-89, +29.4 units).
In the Cubs' last visit to Nationals Park, they swept a Washington club playing its first series under interim manager Jim Riggleman. The Cubs are hoping for similar results in this season's trip to the nation's capital as they begin the post-Lou Piniella era. With Coach Mike Quade taking over as interim manager, Chicago begins a six-game trip tonight.
With Quade moving from the third-base coaching box to the dugout for the rest of the year, the Cubs give the ball to rookie right-hander Casey Coleman (0-1, 7.82 ERA).
Coming off a 2-4 trip that ended with Sunday's 6-0 loss to Philadelphia, the Nationals (53-71) will counter with Livan Hernandez (8-8, 3.06) as they open a seven-game home stand. The veteran right-hander is 0-3 with a 6.32 ERA in his last three starts at Nationals Park after going 4-1 with a 2.10 ERA in his first 10 home outings this season.
Hernandez, 11-6 with a 3.84 ERA against Chicago, receives among the lowest run support in the NL at 3.39 per game. Washington has scored four runs in his last three outings.
Washington has won four of six against Chicago since last season's matchup at Nationals Park.
Monday night’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM ET as part of a trimmed down betting board of 10 games for the night at Sportsbook.com.
