I'll try for a win in this series today as the Cubs who beat the Astros yesterday 7-2 go up against the Astros again today but this time going up against Sampson.

Chris Sampson 2-3 with an era of 5.51 has been having a tough time of it of late,his last start he gave up 5 runs in 6 innings of work and his last 3 starts have resulted in numbers of 1-0 with an era of 5.41,it is intresting to note that the Astros have won each of those games 8-7 against the Giants,5-0 against the Dodgers and 8-6 against the Brewers,Howver against the Cubs he has been stellar over his career,this season he has faced them once picking up no decision but going 6 innings and giving up 6 hits with 2 earned runs.,Career wise and Sampson is 2-0 with an era of 1.25 against the Cubs,going 21 innings and giving up 16 hits for 3 earned runs.His last 3 starts against the Cubs he has won each time with scores of 4-3,4-1 and 1-0.

Ryan Dempster 5-1 with an era of 2.35 is up on the mound for the Cubs and he has been great for them this season,his last start was an 8 inning effort in which he gacve up no runs,in fact in his last 3 starts he has numbers of 1-1 with an era of 0.89 he has thrown 20 innings of work and has given up next to nothing,his last 3 starts for the Cubs have resulted in 2 wins and a loss,he got the result against the Padres 4-0 in his last start and before that he recorded another win against the D-Backs 7-2 but had a loss 3 starts ago to the Reds 3-5,Career wise and Dempster struggles against the Astros he is yet to face them this season but has career numbers of 3-7 with an era of 4.88,Career wise and he has thrown 92 innings against the Astros and has given up 92 hits with 52 earned runs and 53 walks,his last 5 starts against the Astros have been 4 losses with a win,his last 2 against the Astros he has lost 5-3 and 7-1,he won with the Reds against Houston 3 starts ago against them 2-1 but lost his previous two against them 1-0 amd 6-3.

The Cubs have won 3 straight aganst the Astros but they have an intresting trend of winning 2 or 3 against them and then losing one.

The Cubs are going great this season and have been doing it with both their pitching and hitting,they battle for everything they can get in their games and it has been paying off for them,but every now and again they lose a game and i'm looking at this match expecting it to be this one.

The Cubs are going well but only a few of them have had any luck against Sampson while Berkman and Ausmus have had some luck against Dempster,Stake it low and look for the Astros to get to Dempster again today and take the Astros to win...Good Luck.



Pick : Astros WIN
Odds : 2.12
Stake : 8 / 10
Bookmaker : Pinnacle
Match Result : 4-2
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