Ted Lilly has always struggled to put great outings together, and he was magnificent in his Cub debut, so look for some regression today and back the Astros at a nice price.
Now Ted Lilly certainly impressed in his Cubs debut, while Woody Williams was mediocre in his first start for Houston, but we feel that the Astros offer all the value here at this price.
Besides Williams was not that terrible vs. Pittsburgh on Wednesday, as two of the four runs he allowed were unearned. He has pitched well in his last three career outings vs. the Cubs, allowing three runs or less on each occasion. Now Lilly was lights out in his first start, limiting Cincinnati to one run on three hits with nine strikeouts in seven innings. However, keep in mind that Lilly has always shown occasional flashes of brilliance throughout his career, only to be unable to string those kinds of starts together.
We look for Lilly to continue his normal pattern and regress here, so we will back Houston as a decided underdog.