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The MLB season is beginning to enter the serious section of the campaign and two of the better teams in the National League will go head-to-head in the first of a three-game series.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are currently one of the top teams in the National League West with their 49-48 record to date, while the Chicago Cubs sit bottom in the NLC with a 47-51 record.
They’ll go head-to-head once again and we’ll compare the teams to provide you with our best free MLB betting picks to try and earn you some extra cash in the process.
| MLB |  |  |  |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | -125 | -125 | -125 |
| Chicago Cubs | +105 | +105 | +105 |
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Arizona Diamondbacks vs Chicago Cubs information
- Friday, 19 July 2024
- 19:20 ET
- Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Arizona Diamondbacks season so far
Arizona began their campaign with a win in each of their first two games, but they went on to have a bit of a stinker after that as they lost seven of their next nine games including three-in-a-row against the Atlanta Braves.
They bounced back with a run of four wins in five before a mixed end to April, as they ended the month with a record of 14-17.
May wasn’t much better as they lost their first three games of the month to the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, before finding form and going on a four-game winning streak which included three victories in a row against the Cincinnati Reds.
Following that however, they failed to win or lose three games in a row for the rest of the month until May 26, where they started a five-game losing skid to end the month with an overall record of 25-32.
As the team hit June however, they improved greatly and they opened the month with four wins in a row and five wins in their opening six games. The Padres caused them problems again and beat them twice before the Diamondbacks put together another excellent run of eight wins in their next 11 games. Arizona then lost five of their final eight games of the month.
In July they’ve had a great run so far, winning back-to-back games on three different occasions including their recent four-game winning streak which included two victories apiece over the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays. Their overall record for the season currently stands at 49-48.
Chicago Cubs season so far
Chicago’s season began with two straight defeats against the Rangers before they turned things around and went on a run of five straight wins, including three consecutive victories over the Colorado Rockies. They then alternated wins and defeats with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Padres before going on a run of 10 wins in 13 games, finishing the month with three defeats in four for an overall record of 18-12.
That would be the last time they had a winning record over a calendar month, however, as May was a nightmare. They went 6-8 over the first 14 games, alternating wins and losses barring consecutive defeats to the Mets and Brewers. They ended the month however with eight defeats in nine games to give them an overall record of 28-30.
June was just as brutal as they went 11-16 in the month, only managing to win back-to-back games twice throughout that period. They lost three games in a row on two occasions and lost consecutive games twice more than that.
July has been better for them, although they started it with back-to-back defeats to the Philadelphia Phillies. But a huge 10-2 win over the same opponents started a run of seven wins in eight games, including three-in-a-row over the Baltimore Orioles. They lost two of their last three games against the St. Louis Cardinals but got a win in their last outing before the All-Star game, and come into this clash with an overall 47-51 record.
MLB Picks: Arizona Diamondbacks to win
Arizona has been one of the standout teams in the MLB this season despite their far-from-stellar record.
With 482 runs scored they’re ranked as the second-best team in the league for that metric, while they also rank fifth in the MLB for their on-base percentage (.326), rank 7th for their batting average (.254), and ninth for their slugging percentage (.410).
Their pitching however isn’t the greatest as they rank quite poorly, and that is where Chicago can take advantage to sneak a victory.
In their last ten games against each other, the Diamondbacks have the advantage in almost every metric that matters too, and that’s enough to convince us to back Arizona to get back to winning ways following the All-Star break.
Check out our review for BetUS sports betting here.
MLB Picks: Back the Overs
Arizona and Chicago are both fairly consistent when it comes to scoring runs, and that makes the over a very attractive line here.
In 11 of the last 13 games that the Diamondbacks have been part of have seen the over land, including each of the last six games that they’ve been the traveling team for.
Eight of the last ten Arizona games have seen at least nine runs scored, while Chicago have seen nine or more runs scored in four of their last ten games.
The overs is the route to go down so long as the line doesn’t stray too much away from nine runs.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
