Game 2 of Friday’s interleague doubleheader between the Cubs and the Red Sox has a scheduled first pitch of 6:05 PM ET. With both Chicago and Boston in the playoffs already, this game doesn’t have much playoff implications, but I suppose it could adjust who or where Chicago plays in the Wild Card round, depending what happens in Game 1 on Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, Boston is locked into the second Wild Card spot in the AL.
We expect to see Chicago’s David Peterson against Boston’s Brayan Bello today. Bello has had a varying role lately, but he’s coming off an eight-inning, one-run outing in which he only threw 93 pitches, striking out 11 and walking no Rays batters. The Sox lost the game, but it’s still noteworthy. Two outings prior, he went five innings of shutout ball against the Angels, striking out seven, but he threw 103 pitches in that one. Overall, the form is good no matter how Boston has used him, as he carried a 0.66 ERA in 13.2 July innings, a 3.15 in 20 August innings and a 2.55 in 17.2 September innings.
Peterson comes into this game in similar form, tallying three straight one-run outings against the Reds, Braves and Brewers. He has a 4.05 ERA this month, but that’s mostly due to his first meeting with the Brew Crew on September 2, in which he allowed six earned runs in 3.2 innings.
Like I mentioned yesterday in my Guardians vs Red Sox preview, Boston might be stuck in neutral with the playoffs looming, as they have failed to surpass four runs since September 12 and have scored two or fewer in five straight. The Cubs are in a similar boat, scoring two or fewer in their three games against Miami. Considering the lackadaisical form from both offenses and the good form of both starting pitchers, I could only look to the under here. However, it’s not a very comfortable bet at the price. Consider it a lean, and pounce on Under 7 if it ever pops up.
Cubs vs Red Sox prediction: Under 6.5 (-112) at the time of publishing. Playable to -120.
