[Chance Harper]

Chicago Cubs betting on ending curse

Don't look now, but the Chicago Cubs have cut their magic number to two as they cruise to a second straight NL Central title, and they can clinch at home this weekend against their rivals from St. Louis.


How quiet is it on the baseball betting scene? Well, it’s still a bigger market than Premier League crokinole.

We don’t have to sugarcoat it for you – everyone’s on football right now. There will be a bump in action when the MLB playoffs come, but otherwise, not a lot happening around here. Which is just the way sharp handicappers like it. A smaller marketplace means softer lines, so let’s rejoice that baseball is a distant No. 2 in the public eye right now. It’s the same proven rationale behind betting mid-major college football and basketball, which I do strongly encourage. And I think you’ll find the MLB betting odds equally tasty at this time of year.

Cardinals at Cubs
Game 1: Friday, 2:20 p.m. Eastern
STL: Adam Wainwright
CHC: Carlos Zambrano

Game 2: Saturday, 3:55 p.m. (FOX)
STL: Joel Pineiro
CHC: Ted Lilly

Game 3: Sunday, 2:20 p.m.
STL: Braden Looper
CHC: Ryan Dempster

The last time we saw Carlos Zambrano (3.41 ERA, 3.89 tRA), he was pitching a no-hitter against the Houston Astros on Monday. Sheer quality: 10 strikeouts to one walk, 12 groundballs to one fly. Ted Lilly (4.13 ERA, 4.28 tRA) went up the next day and held Houston to one hit over seven innings. But the best pitcher on this staff is, yes, Ryan Dempster (3.02 ERA, 3.56 tRA). He’s a mind-boggling Cy Young candidate at 16-6, and Chicago is on the verge of locking down the National League Central at 92-59 (14.85 units).

The Cardinals (79-73, 5.48 units) have had a very difficult time trying to stay alive in the NL playoff race with all their mounting injuries (I had a mounting injury once, but that’s another story). The starting pitching has been decimated, and in this series they’ll be sending their worst two starters to the mound: Joel Pineiro (5.24 ERA, 6.21 tRA) and Braden Looper (4.06 ERA, 5.27 tRA). I think the correct handicapping terminology here is bleah.

Red Sox at Blue Jays
Game 1: Friday, 7:07 p.m. ET
BOS: Paul Byrd
TOR: A.J. Burnett

Game 2: Saturday, 1:07 p.m.
BOS: Jon Lester
TOR: Roy Halladay

Game 3: Sunday, 1:07 p.m.
BOS: Daisuke Matsuzaka
TOR: John Parrish

What took them so long? The Toronto Blue Jays (82-71, 3.32 units) are finally playing like the team media mogul Ted Rogers thought he was buying when he opened up the purse strings for general manager J.P. Ricciardi. Toronto is 12-5 in September and 35-23 since the All-Star break, although the Jays did lose three of four to the Boston Red Sox (89-63, 11.41 units) last week.

We’ll revisit two of those pitching matchups in Games 1 and 2. A.J. Burnett and Jon Lester were the winners last time; that’s twice Lester (3.15 ERA, 3.82 tRA) has gotten the better of Roy Halladay (2.77 ERA, 3.35 tRA), although both times were at Fenway. Both games also went under the posted total. In non-Halladay battles between these two clubs, the over is 7-3-1.

The Blue Jays are -135 favorites in Friday’s opener with a total of 8½ runs. Burnett (4.19 ERA, 3.72 tRA) has been a major figure in Toronto’s resurgence; the Jays have won nine of his last 11 starts to improve to 20-12 on the season, raking in 7.17 units. Boston has won four of Paul Byrd’s six starts for 1.99 units, although Byrd’s 4.50 ERA and 6.39 tRA aren’t helping any. Toronto tapped him for five runs in five innings and won last week’s matchup 8-1.