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Chicago@Atlanta
1* Chicago +115
(Wood/Ortiz) When things look too good to be true they usually are. The Braves with 12 straight years of playoff experiance are only -125 at home to a Cubs team that hasn't won a road playoff game since 1945! We wonder where the public money will be today. Kerry Wood seems to have finally gotten all of his arm strength back after various injuries and he has been phenomenal down the stretch. Wood is coming off his best month ever in September in which he went 3-1 1.00 era in 5 starts, and in 43 innings he had 58 strikeouts and only 8 walks! Wood is 2-0 0.41 era in his last 3 starts and remember these were all in the heat of the division race. The Cubs are 4-2 in Wood's 6 career starts aginst Atlanta and he's 2-1 2.09 era against them. Wood also had a 2.74 road era this year. The Cubs finished strong going 19-8 in September, they were 15-6 this year after an off day, and 16-8 on Tuesdays. Sammy Sosa hit .520 against Atlanta this year with 4 Home Runs and 11 RBI's and the additions of Kenny Lofton, Arimas Ramirez, and Randall Simon have filled in the gaps of the lineup nicely. The Braves have the hitting this year but lack the pitching that they relied on for so many years, this bullpen is mediocre at best in the middle and John Smoltz looks very hittable since coming off the DL looking like he's not fully recoverd yet. Ortiz is 2-3 5.49 in his career against Chicago and remember Dusty Baker Managed Ortiz the last few years and he's now the Cubs Manager, he should be able to offer great advice to his hitters on how to attack Ortiz. We'll side with the oddsmakers who say that the Cubs have a very good chance of winning game 1 here tonight.
1* Chicago +115
(Wood/Ortiz) When things look too good to be true they usually are. The Braves with 12 straight years of playoff experiance are only -125 at home to a Cubs team that hasn't won a road playoff game since 1945! We wonder where the public money will be today. Kerry Wood seems to have finally gotten all of his arm strength back after various injuries and he has been phenomenal down the stretch. Wood is coming off his best month ever in September in which he went 3-1 1.00 era in 5 starts, and in 43 innings he had 58 strikeouts and only 8 walks! Wood is 2-0 0.41 era in his last 3 starts and remember these were all in the heat of the division race. The Cubs are 4-2 in Wood's 6 career starts aginst Atlanta and he's 2-1 2.09 era against them. Wood also had a 2.74 road era this year. The Cubs finished strong going 19-8 in September, they were 15-6 this year after an off day, and 16-8 on Tuesdays. Sammy Sosa hit .520 against Atlanta this year with 4 Home Runs and 11 RBI's and the additions of Kenny Lofton, Arimas Ramirez, and Randall Simon have filled in the gaps of the lineup nicely. The Braves have the hitting this year but lack the pitching that they relied on for so many years, this bullpen is mediocre at best in the middle and John Smoltz looks very hittable since coming off the DL looking like he's not fully recoverd yet. Ortiz is 2-3 5.49 in his career against Chicago and remember Dusty Baker Managed Ortiz the last few years and he's now the Cubs Manager, he should be able to offer great advice to his hitters on how to attack Ortiz. We'll side with the oddsmakers who say that the Cubs have a very good chance of winning game 1 here tonight.
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