A NEW MLB SEASON IS UPON US: CUBS VS. PIRATES

by MICHAELANGELO MILLER

Line Breakdown

The Chicago Cubs are 1-0 against the spread, going 1-0 Under. The Pittsburg Pirates are 0-1 ATS and are 1-0 Under.

Injuries

The Cubs have placed these players on the 15-day disabled list:

Matt Garza (P) – Side injury

Darwin Barney (2B) – Knee injury

Ian Stewart (3B) – Quad injury

The Pirates have placed these players on the 15-day disabled list:

Brandon Inge (3B) – Shoulder injury

Charlie Morton (P) – Elbow injury

Francisco Liriano (P) – Arm injury

Jeff Karstens (P) – Shoulder injury

Match-Up

The new MLB season is upon us and teams are eager to start their journey towards the Fall Classic, also known as the World Series. In their first match-up of the season, the Cubs beat the Pirates 3-1, behind a stellar performance by pitcher Jeff Samardzija. Due to injuries to starting pitchers Matt Garza and Scott Baker, Samardzija stepped in as starter allowing just two hits through 8 innings and striking out 9 players. This gave the Cubs their fist opening day win in four years. The Cubs are one of baseball’s most beloved teams and the fans must be happy to see them start the season off on the right foot.  Samardzija is now 4-0 all time against the Pirates in his short career. The Pirates faced troubles with Samardzija all afternoon as he kept them at bay with his two-seam fastball and changeup. The just couldn’t get the handle of his combinations and they were left unbalanced the whole game. They only managed two balls out of the infield the whole time Samardzija was pitching. They didn’t even score until the last inning when Alvarez (3B) singled to center and McCutchen (CF) ran it home for the Pirates but that was about the only bright spot for the team. Pirates’ pitcher, A.J. Burnett, didn’t fair too well in his season debut ending with a 4.76 earned run average, allowing 6 hits. The Pirates will look to turn things around quickly as this was but the first of a three game series. They still have plenty of time to get things on the right track and come out on top of the overall match-up.

The Cubs, as a team, have a .182 batting average with a .333 slugging percentage. The Pirates have a .097 BA with a .129 SLG.

Sources: ESPN