The Astros broke a 13-year drought at Wrigley Field on Friday and they actually have a chance to take the series. Kai-Wei Teng takes the mound today as Houston looks to build on the momentum from Friday's 4-2 win.
Teng has quietly been one of the more reliable arms in the Astros rotation this season. He sits at 2-3 on the year but has been much better than that record suggests, posting a 2.61 ERA.
Through his last three starts he has been especially sharp, going 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA and striking out batters at a rate of 10.8 per nine innings. If that version of Teng shows up today the Astros have a real shot at taking this series, per MLB.
The Cubs send Colin Rea to the mound, who comes in at 4-2 with a 4.98 ERA on the season. The one thing working in Chicago's favor is that Rea pitches well at home, posting a 2.66 ERA at Wrigley this season. The Astros are going to need to solve him early if they want to keep this game close, per MLB.
The Cubs are on a six-game losing streak and have scored two runs or fewer in eight of their last twelve games. For a team that came into this series with real offensive firepower, the bats have gone cold at the worst possible time. The Astros need to take advantage of that.
The Astros are sitting at 21-31 and have not been great on the road this season at 9-17. But Friday proved they can win at Wrigley. Today is a chance to prove it was not a fluke.
When the pitching shows up for Houston they are a different team. If Teng can go deep into this game and give the bullpen some rest, the Astros have the pieces to steal this series on the road.
