Chicago Cubs at Boston
Sunday, May 22nd, 8:05 PM
(matchup)
It took 93 years of waiting, but the Chicago Cubs finally earned themselves a win at historic Fenway Park. On Saturday, they beat the Red Sox 9-3 as $1.45 underdogs as Boston continues to be a huge money burner in the favorite role, going 8-16 when laying between -125 and -175 on the money line. They are in that range again tonight as they host the Cubs in the rubber match of the series on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.
The Cubbies are only 5-14 this season off a win, so this one isn't a particularly great setup for them either. They lost Friday's series opener 15-5 as they were huge underdogs in that game. Overall, the club has won three of its last four.
Boston had a seven-game win streak snapped Saturday. It was the most runs they had given up since their previous loss on May 11th.
Chicago will start James Russell in this Sunday night matchup and that has to have Cubs bettors worried. Russell has been just awful since coming out of the bullpen with a 10.04 ERA in four starts, all losses. He is only pitching tonight because scheduled starter Matt Garza is dealing with some stiffness in his elbow.
The Red Sox counter with knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who has had two very different starts in 2011. In his first start of the year, he allowed just one run and three hits in 5.7 IP as he outdueled Seattle's Felix Hernandez in a 3-2 Boston win. However, the next time out he was rocked for six earned runs in less than five innings by Minnesota in a 9-2 loss. That was over two weeks ago and the knuckleballer gets the spot start against a Cubs team he's faced only once since 1995.
