Philadelphia Phillies vs Chicago Cubs Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 04/21/26

In Game 1, the Cubs took an early 5-run lead through 3 innings and never looked back. The win marked Chicago’s 6th straight, while the loss with Philadelphia’s 6th in a row. Tuesday’s Game 2 matchup will be a battle between a couple left-handers in Philadelphia’s Jesus Luzardo and Chicago’s Shota Imanaga, the latter of whom has been much better this season. Imanaga boasts a 2.45 ERA with just a 0.77 WHIP, striking out 31 through 22 innings. His 2.55 xERA and 2.49 xFIP suggest his performance is not fluke, either. Meanwhile, Luzardo’s 7.94 ERA and 1.46 WHIP are pretty gaudy. It makes sense considering he allowed at least 5 runs in 3 of his 4 starts. However, his xERA is below 4.00 and his xFIP is below 2.00, so could there be some regression to the mean on the horizon?

Chicago is 6th in the MLB in batting average against left-handed pitching and 5th in slugging, which is a stark contrast from Philadelphia – who is dead last in both against lefties. That combined with Luzardo’s struggles are enough for me to side with the Cubs continuing their win streak on Tuesday. 

Phillies vs Cubs prediction: Chicago Cubs ML (-118) at the time of publishing. Playable to -125. 

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