Chicago Cubs Look to Right Ship Against Houston Astros

The Chicago Cubs head to face the Houston Astros and hope to put their recent losses in Minnesota in the rearview mirror.

Well, it's likely no surprise that the Chicago Cubs would've liked to leave Minnesota with more W's in the win column. Instead, they lost two out of three and were outscored 27-4 in the weekend series. 

Road games aren't a strong spot for the 19-21 Cubbies. They're 8-10 on the road and 2-8 when games have been decided by one run.

Pitching- the one bright spot for the Cubs- had two horrible outings for the first time all season. None of this is good news as they head down to face the World Series champion Houston Astros. 

The three-game series is going to be a test both for the Cubs' bats and their pitching rotation. Right-hander Jameson Taillon starts things off on the mound Monday evening with lefty Justin Steele and Drew Smyly starting Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. 

Taillon (0-2, 6.41 ERA) is coming off his shortest start so far this season back on May 9th against the St.Louis Cardinals. In that outing, he allowed four runs on five hits and two walks, and five strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings. Monday will be his fourth career start against the Astros. 

Steele and Smyly are performing slightly better. Steele is undefeated in his starts for Chicago this season, sitting with a 6-0 record. Arguably a surprise silver lining for the Cubs as his ERA sits at 1.82 and 39 strikeouts over 49 1/3 innings pitched. 

Smyly had a better outing against the Minnesota Twins than his colleagues. The 4-1 left-hander allowed the Twins only two runs over six innings, also giving up just four hits and one walk on May 12th. 

Boosting their offensive output is going to be key for the Cubs at Minute Maid Park. As a team, they have an OBP of  .340 and score an average of 4.9 runs/game. 

Christopher Morel has been hot for the Cubs. In the past five games, the 23-year-old has three home runs. 

Seiya Suzuki was also a bright spot for the club against the Twins. He had two doubles and a home run. Expect both to try and not struggle against Houston's left-hander Framber Valdez. 

Chicago can be inconsistent at times and that could work to the advantage of the Astros in Game 1. 

First pitch will be 7:10 pm CST.

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