First pitch: Monday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: New York +150, Chicago -160, Total: N/A

The Mets will be looking to win their third game in four nights when they face the Cubs in Chicago on Monday.

The Mets are coming off of a 5-0 victory in a game that Jacob deGrom absolutely dominated. The Mets starter threw a complete game one-hitter and New York will be hoping to carry some of the momentum from that solid victory into Monday night’s meeting with Chicago. The Cubs are coming off of a 4-1 loss to the Rangers on Sunday, but they had won three straight games heading into that one. The Mets will, however, be the more confident team in this game. They are 4-0 against the Cubs on the season, but Chicago is 7-2 when hosting New York over the past three seasons. This game features an exciting set of starters as LHP Jon Lester (9-4, 3.01 ERA, 108 K) will be on the mound for the Cubs and LHP Steven Matz (7-5, 3.38 ERA, 90 K) will give it a go for the Mets. One interesting trend worth pointing out is that the Mets are 23-4 against the money line when playing on Monday over the past two seasons. The Cubs, meanwhile, are 62-28 against the money line as a favorite of -125 go -175 over the past two seasons. They have also been very good at home this season, going 28-15 at Wrigley.

The Mets will be looking to continue their dominance over the Cubs this season and Steven Matz will be the guy on the hill in this one. Matz has pitched pretty well recently, allowing just five earned runs in his past 14 innings of work. One thing he will need to do is keep his walks down. Matz walked three batters the last time he faced Chicago and that was part of the reason he allowed three earned runs on seven hits in just 5.1 innings of work in that outing. He needs to be on point with his control, as it’ll allow him to work deeper into this game. Offensively, two guys worth keeping an eye on in this game are OF Curtis Granderson (.240, 16 HR, 28 RBI) and 3B Wilmer Flores (.254, 8 HR, 24 RBI). Granderson has crushed Lester over the years, going 14-for-46 with three homers and six RBI against him in his career. Flores, meanwhile, is no guarantee to be in the lineup on Monday, but he has been very good against Lester in his career. Flores is 3-for-7 with two homers and three RBI against him and the Mets would be wise to tap into that unexpected power boost in this one.

The Cubs will be hoping to earn their first victory of the season over the Mets on Monday. Jon Lester is going to be on the mound for Chicago in this game and the team desperately needs him to get his head right. Lester has been miserable over his past two starts, allowing 13 earned runs over 4.1 innings of work. He had been one of the best pitchers in baseball throughout the entire first half of the season, but badly struggled in those two starts and needs to get back to what he was doing well early in the year. It also isn’t a great sign that his most recent start against this Mets team was when he allowed eight earned runs in 1.1 innings of work on Jul. 3. Offensively, two guys to watch out for on the Cubs are 3B Kris Bryant (.282, 25 HR, 65 RBI) and IF Javier Baez (.277, 9 HR, 32 RBI). Bryant is 1-for-3 with a homer and two RBI in his career against Matz and Baez is 2-for-3 with a homer. Both guys will be hoping to produce at the plate and their familiarity with Matz could help them do that. Chicago will certainly be in need of runs, as Lester might need all the support he can get if he does not turn things around on Monday.