Chicago Cubs vs New York Mets Prediction: Start to an Exciting Series

After losing the game to Orioles, Chicago Cubs will be all set to host the Mets in the upcoming home series. On Thursday night, the first game of their four-game series, the New York Mets (54-34) will take on the Chicago Cubs (34-53) in an effort to extend their lead in the NL East standings. For the Mets, Carlos Carrasco (9-4, 4.55 ERA) will start. Keegan Thompson, who is 7-3 with a 3.04 ERA for the Cubs, will respond. In its previous 10 meetings versus New York, Chicago is 7-3.

With five consecutive defeats, Cubs will be looking to make the most of their home game. As they get ready to meet the NL East-leading Mets, the struggling Cubs are hobbling into the all-star break. The Cubs have dropped five straight contests and seven of their last nine going into Wednesday night's third and final game of a three-game series with Baltimore. The Cubs bats have been quiet save from a 9-run explosion in an 11-9 defeat to the Dodgers. The Cubs scored a total of 12 runs in the remaining five games, except the one with nine runs. The blazing-hot Orioles defeated the Cubs 7-1 on Wednesday night, defeating them for the second consecutive game. Chicago has now dropped 7 straight games due to their pitching staff allowing the Baltimore hitters to get 12 hits and 7 runs.

After losing the home series to Marlins, New York Mets recovered quickly and won the series against the Braves. In their last game, they imposed them on the Braves completely. For the Mets, it was Luis Guillorme, Mark Canha, Eduardo Escobar, and Travis Jankowski with the bat. In the pitching corner, it was Chriss Bassitt and Drew Smith with 6 and 5 strikeouts each. The Mets anticipate that important members of the pitching staff, most notably ace Jacob deGrom, will return in the second half, and they believe it will be even better than the first. At an effort to be ready to begin the second half of the season, deGrom will make a rehab start in Triple-A on Thursday. His presence will strengthen a starting staff that has been overworked lately and was delighted to have Scherzer back last week.

Going in the game, New York Mets will look to take maximum advantage of the host’s poor form and win the game by a decent margin. The game total is expected to be under 10, and the Mets to score at least 5 or more runs with the bat. 

• New York Mets to Win for 1.7
• Total Over 9 for 2.47
• Individual Total 2 Over 4.5 for 2.07