The Giants, trying to stay within reach of a wild-card spot, shoot for the series victory over the Cubs when the teams meet for the finale of a four-game set at Oracle Park Sunday night. Lefty Carlos Rodon goes for San Francisco here against Adrian Sampson for Chicago.
Here’s how we are playing this game with our free Cubs/Giants pick.
MLB Betting Odds
Sunday’s baseball betting lines opened San Francisco and Rodon at around -185 over Chicago and Sampson, with an over/under of 7.5 runs. Early betting action then dropped the Giants a nickel to -175.
Cubs-Giants MLB Betting Preview
San Francisco took a 2-1 lead in this series with a 5-4 victory Saturday night. The Giants led 5-0 after four innings Saturday, then held on from there, as the game ended with the tying run on second base.
San Francisco won Saturday as a -130 favorite on the dime line and the game played over a total of eight runs thanks to a late Chicago rally.
The Giants won Thursday’s series opener 4-2 as -135 favorites; the Cubs then won Friday’s game 4-2 as +120 underdogs.
With Saturday’s win, San Francisco is 2-1, following a seven-game losing skid. At 50-51, the Giants are four games behind Philadelphia in the battle for the third and final National League wild-card spot.
With Saturday’s loss, Chicago is still 7-2 over its last nine games. But at 41-59 overall, the Cubs are just playing out the string on this 2022 baseball season.
Sunday’s Pitching Match-Up
Rodon is 10/20 on quality starts this season but coming off a couple of rough outings. Tuesday, he gave up five runs and two home runs through six innings of a 7-3 San Francisco loss to Arizona. And just before that, he gave up five runs through five frames of a 9-6 loss to the Dodgers.
The Giants are 8-12 with Rodon this season, 0-3 his last three times out.
In his last start against the Cubs, back in August of last season while still with the White Sox, Rodon tossed five innings of two-hit, shutout ball, with 11 strikeouts, and picked up the W.
Sampson is 1/6 on quality starts this year but coming off perhaps his best outing of the season. Monday, he held Pittsburgh to two runs and six hits through seven innings of a 3-2 Chicago victory. And over his last four starts, he’s allowed eight runs and 22 hits through 23 1/3 innings.
The Cubs are 4-2 with Sampson this season, and he can take some credit for that.
This will be Sampson’s first career start against the Giants.
Splits With the Sticks
Chicago is batting .240 against left-handed pitching this season, with a .313 team OBP and a .421 team slugging percentage.
San Francisco is slashing .231/.316/.379 against right-handed pitching.
The Bullpens
The Giants bullpen owns a 4.43 ERA this season, along with a 1.40 WHIP.
The Cubs pen owns a 4.12 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP.
- Get more details: Chicago Cubs at San Francisco Giants 7/31/22 Betting Stats
MLB Betting Trends
The Cubs are 21-27 on the road this season and 11-17 against left-handed starters.
The Giants are 28-23 at home and 29-37 against right-handed starters.
Totals Report
- The Under is 49-44 in Cubs games this season.
- The Over is 50-47 in Giants games.
- The Over is 25-23 at Oracle Park this season.
- The Under is a combined 15-9 with Rodon and Sampson this season.
