Now, on a day where the wind in the Windy City seems to be blowing towards the Oakland Athletics, allow me to sprinkle some wisdom upon you. The Athletics are rolling onto Wrigley Field with their main man, Joey Estes on the mound. Joey's season stats are pretty decent, rocking a 4.54 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. Meanwhile, the Cubs are betting their pinstripes on Shota Imanaga to take the bump, who's been having himself a solid season with a 3.08 ERA and 1.03 WHIP – quite a contender.
In terms of big bats, Oakland’s got Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker stepping up to the plate, these guys don’t just hit baseballs; they punish them. For the Cubbies, they're relying on Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ian Happ, and perhaps reluctantly, Cody Bellinger, whose batting average looks like my bowling score.
Let's not forget past performances as well. If we took a stroll down memory lane to past matchups between these two, the Cubs seem to be the dominant predator with scores as lopsided as a hiker with a heavy backpack.
Regular season records show us the Cubs have been playing above .500 this season while the Athletics are trying not to drown with a discouraging 65-85. Recent games have been a roller coaster for both teams but we have to give the Cubs an edge there.
All in all, considering Wrigley Field's generally favorable conditions for pitchers- I guess we'll see how the Athletics’ Joey Estes likes the windy city.
Taking all this into consideration, with a sense of dread and anticipation I give you:
Albert’s Prediction: Chicago Cubs by 2