Chicago Cubs VS Texas Rangers feature two teams at the start of an interleague series on the diamond, who open a weekend North side of the Windy City.
The Texas Rangers are on the road as they play the opening match of a three-game set with the Chicago Cubs Friday afternoon. Texas leveraged the finale of their three-game home set with the Baltimore Orioles as they secured a 5-2 victory on Wednesday afternoon.
On Wednesday Chicago Cubs were rained out in Cincinnati playing against the Cincinnati Reds so they were left with a split of a rain-shortened two-game set. The Cubs triumphed 12-5 in their most current contest on Tuesday.
In the recent series between the two sides, the Rangers took 2 out of 3 games at home from March 28-31, 2019.
MatchPlug is ready with MLB Predictions Today for the Cubs and Rangers game.
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Predictions and Betting Preview For Chicago Cubs VS Texas Rangers Regular Season
- Venue: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
- When: Friday, April 7th, 2023
- Time: 11:20 GMT
- Teams to play: Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers.
- MLB Expert Picks: MONEYLINE 1.868
Odds by 1XBet and BetMGM.
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Betting On The Chicago Cubs
- 1XBet Spread: -1.5
- 1XBet Moneyline: 1.868
- 1XBet Over/Under: Over 6.5
- BetMGM Spread: -1.5
- BetMGM Moneyline: 1.80
- BetMGM Over/Under: Under 7
The Chicago Cubs earned a split of the rain-shortened series with the Cincinnati Reds by winning Tuesday night. The finale that took place on Wednesday afternoon was rained out, giving them two days off between games.
On Thursday, the Cubs entered 2-3 on the year, standing 4th in the NL Central, 2.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers. Against the Reds Tuesday night, they got 3 hits each from Nico Hoerner (3 runs), Ian Happ (two runs, RBI), Cody Bellinger (run, RBI) and Patrick Wisdom (2 runs, 3 RB) in the game. Chicago finished the game 10 for 21 with runners in scoring position.
Hayden Wesneski didn’t consider the decision as he threw 4.2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Adbert Alzolay (1-0) earned the win in relief as he threw 2.2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits with no walks and 5 strikeouts.
Marcus Stroman was scheduled to begin Wednesday before the rainout, he gets the ball for his second start of the year for the Cubs. He is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, 3 walks and 8 strikeouts in a year. Stroman got the win in his season debut, which was last Thursday at home against Milwaukee. He threw 6 shutout frames and allowed 3 hits with 3 walks and 8 strikeouts in a game the Cubs won 4-0. Stroman will make his 5th career start against the Rangers this contest. He is 1-3 with a 7.71 ERA, a 1.571 WHIP, 8 walks and 17 strikeouts over 21 innings of work. Marcus is 4-5 with a 4.73 ERA, a 1294 WHIP, 25 walks and 71 strikeouts over 70.1 innings in 13 career starts at Wrigley Field.
Betting On The Texas Rangers
- 1XBet Spread: +1.5
- 1XBet Moneyline: 2.085
- 1XBet Over/Under: Under 6.5
- BetMGM Spread: +1.5
- BetMGM Moneyline: 2.05
- BetMGM Over/Under: Over 7
The Texas Rangers played their 6 games at home, earning the win in the finale against the Baltimore Orioles Thursday, avoiding a defeat at the hands of Baltimore. They came into Thursday 4-2 on the season and shared the top spot in the AL West with the Los Angeles Angels.
Wednesday afternoon against the Orioles, Texas got two hits each from Adolis Garcia (two runs, RBI) and Josh Jung (run, 3 RBI) to pace a nine-hit attack. Jung hit his second home this campaign, a two-run shot, in the 6th inning to break a 2-2 tie and send his team to victory.
Jacob deGrom (1-0) secured a win when he threw 6 innings, allowing two runs (1 earned) on two hits with 2 walks and 11 strikeouts. Jose LeClerc worked a 1-2-2 ninth, striking out one, for his first save of the year.
Texas has Nathan Eovaldi on the mound, as he makes his second start of the season. Eovaldi is 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA, a 1.60 WHIP, two walks and six strikeouts on the year. He got the win during his season debut, which was on Saturday at home against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Nathan threw 5 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts in a game the Rangers won 16-3. Eovaldi will be making his third career start against the Cubs this campaign. He enters with 0-1 with a 3.95 ERA, a 1.098 WHIP, one walk and 10 strikeouts over 13.2 innings of work against them. The Texan Ranger didn’t consider the decision in his lone career start at Wrigley Field, which was with the Miami Marlins on June 6, 2014. He threw 7.2 innings, allowing 3 runs (1 earned) on five hits with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts in a game the Marlins dropped 5-3 in 13 innings.
MatchPlug Prediction
Cubs VS Rangers should be an entertaining game because the starting pitchers don’t have a lot of experience with facing the opposition this campaign. Eovaldi pitched against Chicago only twice while Stroman pitched against Texas just four times despite spending most of his career in the American League.
Nathan secured the win in his first start but wasn’t very good as he relied on a big offensive outburst from the Rangers in that match. Stroman shut down Milwaukee during the opener and has pitched better since the second half of last season.
Texas hasn’t been seen on the road this season and experts want to see how they’ll perform in away matches before backing them. Stroman and the Cubs may salvage the conditions to win this matchup.
For more accurate MLB Expert Picks for Cubs VS Rangers, check the sportsbook odds we listed.
Final Prediction: Chicago Cubs Moneyline.
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