Drew Smyly on the mound for the Cubs facing the Pirates for the second time already. His first outing he went for 4 k’s over 4 2/3’s scoreless innings, allowing 3 hits on the way to a 2-1 Cubs win in the Pirates home opener. Last year while with the Atlanta Braves he did allow 3 earned runs in both games facing Pittsburgh. The same pitching matchup again as José Quintana takes the mound for the Bucs. He went 5.1 innings, 5 hits, 2 walks and 3 strikeouts giving up his only earned run on a homer. Quintana no stranger to Wrigley. His last full season with the Cubs 2019 he started 16 games at Wrigley having 3 scoreless starts, and averaging 3.06 earned runs per start. It does figure to be somewhat of a long summer for both these teams as both were well under .500 last year and by most projections will be having similar type of seasons this year, however after today one of these clubs will be at .500 in this young season. Having lost 3 in a row coming in, including yesterdays series opener my pick is the Cubs -167, and the over 7.5. Please note that while my stats may be figured by me and original, if your following my baseball picks while it is one of my favorite sports it is not one of the most profitable ventures to wager on my picks.