MLB odds, tips, bets for Friday

After suffering heavy defeats at the hands of the Rangers in two consecutive losses, the Yankees now travel to Chicago to regain their lead in the AL East.

It's difficult to keep an Orioles team that ranks first in slugging percentage in check when you're losing three straight series to non-playoff opponents.

In those nine games, the Yankees' relief pitching was nothing short of a disaster, allowing 1.84 home runs per nine innings and having an ERA of 7.36.

During this exact period, the Cubs led the game with 3.9 Wins Above Replacement.

In the last nine meetings, Chicago delivered a thrilling six-game cracker before the interleague game against the Yankees on Friday.

The Cubs are battling the strong tide of the NL wild-card race, sitting 4 ½ games behind the cutoff despite being four games over .500.

Their postseason odds are +1700 on DraftKings, making them a hot team with underdog value in September.

Left-hander Jordan Wicks made a strong impression in his first game after two and a half months of rehabilitation from an oblique abdominal muscle strain on Sunday.

He played through five innings with reliable control, while the offense outscored Washington by 14 runs.

Although the young player is maturing in the rotation, there is no reason to doubt him so far, especially against an unreliable Yankees group.

Wicks is not a pitcher with weak strikeouts and does not throw with blazing speed, but he is best at enticing batters to chase throws outside the zone (34.6 chase rate), thereby making less contact.

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Luis Gil will return from the injured list to bolster a rotation that was less dominant in the spring.

Gil himself finished at a low point with a 9.00 ERA in his last two starts as his strikeout rate declined before the back strain.

Even if Gil can be at his best, which 2024 means for him, I'd rather keep the Bombers' bullpen weak against the hungry Cubs, who had the second-highest on-base percentage (.345) last month.

The piece: Cubs Moneyline (+122, Caesars)