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The Pirates vs. Cubs series betting line for Friday May 15 had Pittsburgh as a +116 road dog, Chicago as a -122 home favorite and the total set at 9.5.
There is little advantage in the series as each ball club has won five games spread out over the last ten. The home team has won six out of ten and four of the last five.
The OVER needs to be looked at carefully as 7 of 9 in the series have gone OVER. This is a bit higher number than usual however and none of the last five meetings have gone OVER the current number of 9.5.
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates LH Jeff Locke (2-2, 4.71 ERA) vs. Cubs RH Kyle Hendricks (0-1, 4.65)
Getting back to the total, the OVER is 9-1-2 in Locke’s last 12 road starts though his last two road starts totaled 8.
Locke has allowed 16 earned runs in 22.1 innings (6.45 ERA) over his last four starts and stands to get beat up badly Friday afternoon as he is 1-2 with a 5.11 ERA in seven career starts against the Cubs, including an 0-1 record and 7.24 ERA in three outings at Wrigley Field.
Hendricks did produce his first scoreless performance of the season in his last start but is winless in six starts in 2015.
- Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com
