Cubs-Pirates Pointers

The Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates will both be gunning for a victory on Monday when they meet at PNC Park.

Ted Lilly will be the starting pitcher for the Cubs on this day. Lefthander Lilly is 0-1 this season with a 7.71 ERA.

Lilly's opponent in this one will be Tom Gorzelanny. The Pirates lefthander has a 4.50 ERA to go along with a 0-1 record this season.

NewBodog oddsmakers currently have the Cubs listed as 125-moneyline favorites versus the Pirates, while the game's total has not yet been posted.

The Cubs defeated Houston 3-2 as a -200 favorite on Sunday. The five runs scored fell UNDER the posted over/under total (9).

Alfonso Soriano and Derrek Lee each hit a solo home run for Chicago, while Carlos Zambrano picked up the win for Chicago after allowing two runs on seven hits, with seven strikeouts over seven innings

The Pirates defeated Florida 9-2 as a -115 favorite on Sunday. The 11 runs scored went OVER the posted over/under total (9.5).

Ian Snell allowed only one earned run over six innings, while striking out six to earn the win for Pittsburgh, while Nate McLouth was 3-5 with two RBI and three runs scored.

Current streak:
Chicago has won 2 straight games.

Team records:
Chicago: 3-3 SU
Pittsburgh: 3-3 SU

Chicago most recently:
When playing on Monday are 5-5
Before playing Pittsburgh are 7-3
After playing Houston are 8-2
After a win are 6-4

Pittsburgh most recently:
When playing on Monday are 5-5
Before playing Chi Cubs are 3-7
After playing Florida are 5-5
After a win are 3-7

A few trends to consider:
Chi Cubs are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games when playing Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 20 of Chi Cubs's last 25 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Chi Cubs's last 5 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
Chi Cubs are 2-4 SU in their last 6 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games when playing at home against Chi Cubs
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Pittsburgh's last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Pittsburgh's last 15 games at home
Pittsburgh is 4-2 SU in their last 6 games when playing at home against Chi Cubs

Next up:
Pittsburgh home to Chi Cubs, Wednesday, April 9

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