Milwaukee Brewers at Chicago Cubs 8/19/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Friday MLB schedule will get underway with a matinee between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs from historic Wrigley Field. The Brewers (63-54) have split their previous ten games and trail NL Central Division leading St. Louis by three games. On Thursday, OF Andrew McCutchen homered twice and drove in three runs to power Milwaukee to a 5-3 home victory versus Los Angeles.

Twenty-four year old lefty Aaron Ashby (2-10 4.24 ERA) has been plagued by poor luck and a lack of run support. The Brewers have lost Ashby’s last five starts and he has given up ten runs over his last 23 plus frames.

The Chicago Cubs have won seven of their last ten games and have their sights set on the future. On Thursday, All-Star C Willson Contreras went deep twice to lead Chicago to a 3-2 road victory against Baltimore. SP Adrian Sampson (1-3) tossed five plus shutout frames to earn the win for the Cubs, who improved to 50-67 on the season.

Twenty-seven year old righty Keegan Thompson (9-5 3.67 ERA) has been one of the few bright spots for the Cubs. Through 100 plus innings, Thompson has struck out 88 batters and owns a respectable 1.27 WHIP.