The Chicago Cubs are coming into this contest on the back of four consecutive wins. The Pittsburgh Pirates meanwhile will be looking to bounce back from back-to-back losses to the Phillies, but remember that they had won four straight prior. I think the Cubs are coming in overrated here and I would not be surprised to see the Pirates come up with an upset.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - The Pirates will hand the ball to Jeff Locke (2-2, 4.71 ERA) as he's coming off a decent outing against the Cardinals where he allowed three runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings in a 4-3 win not factoring in the decision. He's only gone 11 2/3 innings in the daylight on the year, but he thrived in day-games last season compiling a 2.10 ERA over 34 1/3 innings of work. The Cubs will counter with Kyle Hendricks (0-1, 4.65 ERA) and he's coming off 5 1/3 scoreless innings at Milwaukee. He's been far from as sharp in all of his starts on the season though, and he's never pitched past the sixth inning. It's also worth noting that he's shown some conrol-issues of late, issuing seven walks in his last three outings.

2. Situational - The Pirates are 6-2 in the last eight meetings in Chicago and 5-1 in Locke's last six starts during game 1 of a series.

3. X-Factor - Andrew McCutchen was out of the starting line-up last night to get some rest before fouling out to end the game as the potential tying run. We can expect him to be back in the starting line-up today, so Hendricks better beware.

Selection: This is a play on the Pittsburgh Pirates +1.5 (8*)