Chicago Cubs vs. Los Angeles Dodgers MLB Picks, Odds, Predictions 6/26/2021

The Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers meet in MLB action from Dodger Stadium on Saturday night.

The Chicago Cubs will look to bounce back from a 6-2 loss at the hands of the Dodgers on Friday. Kris Bryant belted a solo home run and Joc Pederson had a sac fly RBI to make up the scoring for the Cubbies in the losing effort. Jason Heyward had a pair of hits while Jake Marisnick and Javier Baez each added base hits as the Cubs had just five hits as a team in the losing effort. Jake Arrieta allowed two earned runs on five hits while striking out four over six innings of work, not factoring in the decision. Ryan Tepera took the loss in relief, falling to 0-1 on the year as a result. Alec Mills will start here and is 3-1 with a 5.18 ERA and 24 strikeouts this season. This will be Mills’ first career start against the Dodgers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will look to build on their win over the Cubs last time out to snap a four-game losing streak. A.J. Pollock and Max Muncy each had a two-run home run with Pollock going 2 for 4 with a double as well and Zach MicKinstry added a solo home run as well in the winning effort. Justin Turner went 2 for 5 with a double while Cody Bellinger and Mookie Betts each had a base hit to finish off the Dodger offense as a team in the win. Tony Gonsolin allowed one run on four hits with seven strikeouts over four innings of work, not factoring in the decision. Blake Treinen picked up the win in relief to improve to 2-3 on the year. Julio Urias will start here and is 9-3 with a 3.99 ERA and 95 strikeouts this season. in his career, Urias is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 16 strikeouts against the Cubs.

Chicago is 13-6 in their last 19 games against a left-handed starter while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games overall. Los Angeles is 5-1 in their last 6 games against the NL Central and 49-20 in their last 69 home games while the under is 5-0-1 in their last 6 games as a home favorite. Chicago is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings between these two teams and 4-11 in the last 15 meetings between these two teams in Los Angeles.

I get the case that could be made for the Cubs and the heavy plus money, but I’m still not sure what to make of Alec Mills in the long term and the Cubs still aren’t hitting the ball well if we’re being 100% honest. Julio Urias has been one of the more underrated and underappreciated pitchers in the Dodgers’ rotation this year and I think he leads L.A. to a win on the run line in this one so I’ll lay the -1.5 with the Dodgers here.