First pitch: Friday, 7:10 p.m. ET
Line: Chicago -115, Boston +105, Total: 8.0

The Red Sox will be hoping to snap out of their recent funk with a win at home over the Cubs on Friday.

The Cubs have not gotten off to the start they were hoping for this season, but things haven’t necessarily been bad either. Chicago is 12-9 right now, but that is good for only the fourth best record in the National League. The Cubs are also only one game up on the Brewers in the division, and they are definitely hoping for a nice extended winning streak to help create some separation. The Red Sox, meanwhile, have now lost two straight games and four of their past five. They were also hoping to be dominating their division by now, but they are not playing well at the moment. The starters that will be hoping to earn victories for their teams in this one are RHP Jake Arrieta (3-0, 3.65 ERA, 29 K) for Chicago and LHP Drew Pomeranz (1-1, 4.60 ERA, 20 K) for Boston. Arrieta being on the mound is good news for the Cubs, as they are 16-1 against the money line over the past two seasons when the line is between -100 to -150 on the road with the righty starting.

The Cubs might be over the .500 mark, but they have not yet reached the level of play that they are capable of. Two guys that must step it up for the team soon are 3B Kris Bryant (.282 BA, 2 HR, 12 RBI) and OF Kyle Schwarber (.213 BA, 3 HR, 8 RBI). Bryant was the MVP of the National League last season, and the team is definitely expecting a lot more from him. He needs to start hitting some home runs, and he also needs to cut down on his strikeouts. Schwarber, meanwhile, is also supposed to be a lot better than this. He is one of the more threatening hitters in baseball, but he has not produced just yet. As for the starting pitching, Jake Arrieta will be hoping for a stellar outing on Friday. Arrieta has had a lot of success against most of this Red Sox lineup, and he also happens to be pitching well this year. It’s hard to imagine him really having too much trouble in this one.

2B Dustin Pedroia (.242 BA, 0 HR, 5 RBI) is one guy that should be in for a good game for Boston on Friday. Pedroia is 4-for-6 with a homer and three RBI against Arrieta in his career. While those aren’t the best stats, he does have a lot of exposure to the righty and will just need to figure him out here. Pedroia has also struggled this season, so he’ll be eager to snap out of his slump. Boston will, however, need Drew Pomeranz to pitch well here. Pomeranz has been lousy since being acquired by the Red Sox near last year’s trade deadline, but he is still a talented pitcher and should be able to figure it out at some point. One thing working in the lefty’s favor is the fact that he threw six innings of shutout ball in his only start against the Cubs last season. He struck out 10 batters in that game, and it’s possible he is still just adjusting to American League lineups. Hopefully the familiar Chicago faces bring the best out of him here.