Phillies and Cubs play to decide series winner
Chicago Cubs (81-77, second in the NL Central) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (93-65, first in the NL East)
Philadelphia; Wednesday, 6:05 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Javier Assad (7-5, 3.34 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 121 strikeouts); Phillies: Cristopher Sanchez (11-9, 3.25 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 149 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Phillies -187, Cubs +157; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Both the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs are looking for a series win with a victory on Wednesday.
Philadelphia is 53-27 in home games and 93-65 overall. The Phillies have a 48-14 record in games when they did not give up a home run.
Chicago is 39-41 in road games and 81-77 overall. Cubs hitters have a collective .318 on-base percentage, the seventh-ranked percentage in the NL.
Wednesday's game is the sixth time these teams square off this season. The Phillies are up 3-2 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Bryce Harper has 42 doubles, 30 home runs and 87 RBI for the Phillies. Kyle Schwarber is 11-for-43 with a double, three home runs and seven RBI over the past 10 games.
Ian Happ leads Chicago with 25 home runs while slugging .450. Michael Busch is 7-for-31 with three home runs and five RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Phillies: 4-6, .247 batting average, 4.44 ERA, even run differential
Cubs: 6-4, .280 batting average, 3.44 ERA, outscored opponents by 14 runs
INJURIES: Phillies: Rodolfo Castro: 60-Day IL (thumb), Spencer Turnbull: 60-Day IL (back), Luis Ortiz: 60-Day IL (ankle)
Cubs: Michael Busch: day-to-day (arm), Jorge Lopez: 15-Day IL (groin), Jordan Wicks: 15-Day IL (oblique), Brennen Davis: 60-Day IL (ankle), Nick Madrigal: 60-Day IL (finger), Julian Merryweather: 15-Day IL (knee), Ben Brown: 60-Day IL (neck), Luke Little: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Colten Brewer: 60-Day IL (hand), Yency Almonte: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Adbert Alzolay: 60-Day IL (forearm)
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.