Pittsburgh Pirates at Chicago Cubs Free Pick and Betting Lines. The 20-15 Chicago Cubs play host to the 17-19 Pittsburgh Pirates today in MLB action on the grass of Wrigley Field, May 16, 2015. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05PM EST.

Wagering Odds
Moneyline: Pirates -105/Cubs -105
O/U Total: 7.5

Pitching Matchup
Gerrit Cole (R) W/L 5-1 WHIP 1.12 ERA 2.32
Jon Lester (L) W/L 3-2 WHIP 1.34 ERA 4.10

Chicago won a wild 11-10 extra-innings game vs. Pittsburgh yesterday. It was their 5th-straight win all at home. The Pirates are 2-3 on their current road trip and 6-4 in their last 10 games.

The Cubs have a 5-3 lead in 2015 over Pittsburgh and a 6-4 edge in the last 10 games.

Cole was a 4-3 winner in his last outing against Philadelphia. He allowed 2 runs in 7 innings. It was his 5th Q start on the season and he hasn’t allowed more than 3 ERs in any of his 7 starts.

Lester got his 3rd-straight win in his last game, a 4-3 victory over the Mets. He surrendered 3 runs in 6 innings for his 4th-straight Q start of the year.

Pittsburgh C Chris Stewart is 3-5 (.600) with a HR and 2 RBIs off of Lester. OF Corey Hart is 2-9 (.222) but both hits have been homers. Six other Pirates have had 9 ABs or less vs. the left-hander with mixed results.

Several Cub hitters have had success against Cole. SS Starlin Castro (.455), 1B Anthony Rizzo (.375) and C Wellington Castillo (.364) lead the way. No players have hit a HR off of the right-hander and OF Dexter Fowler has the only SB.

Pittsburgh at Chicago Betting Trends

The Pirates are 2-6 straight up in their last 8 games on the road.
The game total has gone under in 4 of Pittsburgh’s last 6 games.
The Chicago Cubs are 5-0 in their last 5 games at home.
Chicago is 3-6 straight up in their last 9 games at home against Pittsburgh.
The game total has gone over in 8 of the Cubs last 12 games against the Pirates.

Injury Report

PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Brandon Cumpton P 15-Day Disabled List
Andrew Lambo OF 15-Day Disabled List
Charlie Morton P 15-Day Disabled List
Justin Sellers 2B 15-Day Disabled List

CHICAGO CUBS
Dallas Beeler P 15-Day Disabled List
Chris Denorfia OF 15-Day Disabled List
Tommy La Stella 2B 15-Day Disabled List
Mike Olt 3B 60-Day Disabled List
Neil Ramirez P 15-Day Disabled List
David Ross C Day-to-Day (abdomen)
Jacob Turner P 60-Day Disabled List
Tsuyoshi Wada P 15-Day Disabled List

Consensus Picks (Public Money line Bets)
Pittsburgh: 49%
Chicago: 51%

Free MLB Picks

Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole has the overall better pitching stats on the season and did look good in an earlier game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field allowing 1 run (0 Earned) in 6 innings. Chicago starter Jon Lester didn’t get off to the best of starts in 2015, but has been sharp in his last 3 with a sparkling ERA of 1.80. We thought hard about backing the Cubs in this spot, but with the wind blowing out and Lester’s ground ball to fly ball stats we believe the total has more value.

Take the OVER 7.5.