A pair of sluggish offenses pair off on Friday, although one team seems to be waking up. The 2-8 Cubs have lost 6 straight and are on the verge of their 7th on Thursday night. The Cubs have struggled mightily with their bats, scoring less than 3 runs in 8 of their last 10 starts and managed just a .183 BA vs right-handed pitching in their latest games. Short outings from their starters has been another problem, with a domino effect on the bullpen. Stroman, just one game back from the IL starts on Friday. He hasn’t pitched very much this year, but looked good in a short outing in his first game back, tossing a four inning shut out. Don’t look for length from Stroman; the Cubs will want to be careful with him at this point.

The Mets are a good road team, and have been getting excellent starting pitching and solid relief, but the offense hit just .210 vs right handed pitching in the last week. They did manage a series win vs the Braves and are roughing up the Cubs in the first game of the series as I write.

One of those fine starters is Taijuan Walker, who has put together a very good half-season, and will be looking to avoid the fate of last year when he fell apart immediately following the All Star Break. He has had a pair of 7 inning shutouts in his last three starts. Opponents are hitting just .163 against him in July.

I favor Walker and the Mets on Friday. Walker will likely throw deeper into the game, the Mets have much better and better-rested relievers and appear ready to start a run. 9/10 stars: Take the Mets to win.