MLB Baseball
2026-06-26 - Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : Major League Baseball
Friday 26th June 2026 - Scheduled 7:45pm EST
12:45am (British Time)
Preview
These two National League Central teams were tipped to fight it out for the Division crown and they are sitting one and two in the Division as we hit the halfway mark of the regular season.
However, the Milwaukee Brewers (49-29) have a 6.5 game lead over the Chicago Cubs (44-37) and they have already swept a three game set at Wrigley Field this season.
The latest series in the rivalry between the Brewers and Cubs will be hosted by Milwaukee and they return home after winning four times in a row on the road. That includes taking the last of a three game series against the Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers will be pretty confident in the opening pitcher they are sending out to the mound.
That is not to say that the Chicago Cubs are lacking confidence having swept a four game series against the New York Mets which led to the latter firing Manager Carlos Mendoza. However, the Cubs have been a much streakier team than the Milwaukee Brewers who have won the second most games in the Major Leagues behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Milwaukee hand the ball to Jacob Misiorowski who made headlines in his rookie season, but who has grown dramatically in this his sophomore season in the Major Leagues. Last season Jacob Misiorowski made just fourteen starts, but controversially earned a call up to the All Star Game, although there will be no such controversy in 2026.
The youngster has a 8-3 record with a 1.45 ERA in fifteen starts this season, while Misiorowski finished with a 1.50 ERA in three Playoff games last season.
Jacob Misiorowski put together a run of eight starts in a row where he finished with a 7-0 record and 0.17 ERA and most impressive is that he threw over 54 Innings in that time. It was a run ended in the last start when he allowed two runs in 6 Innings against the Atlanta Braves to pick up an incredibly hard luck loss and to say that is the 'worst' start made since the end of April just underlines the levels being produced.
The chance to bounce back against the Chicago Cubs will be encouraging for Jacob Misiorowski who held this opponent scoreless in 6 Innings thrown last month.
The Cubs will counter by handing the ball to Colin Rea who has a 5-5 record and 4.99 ERA in sixteen appearances this season, although four of those have been out of the bullpen. He is in his second season in this Cubs uniform, but Colin Rea has room for improvement and will be under some pressure to keep the team in the game if Jacob Misiorowski in anything near his usual level.
Colin Rea had taken back to back decision losses when allowing eleven runs in just over 9 Innings thrown- one was in a start, the other out of the bullpen. However, he bounced back last time out by holding the Toronto Blue Jays without a run into the 6th Inning after starting, although Colin Rea did not factor into the decision.
This is the first time Colin Rea is pitching against Milwaukee in the regular season this season and he was used out of the bullpen in the Playoff Series between the teams twice last year.
The veteran did pick up the decision loss in the regular season visit to Milwaukee last season when Colin Rea allowed four runs in 4 Innings thrown against them.
Prediction
If allowing two runs in 6 Innings is as bad as it has gotten in almost two months of pitching, you know you are performing at a very high level and that is where Jacob Misiorowski is operating right now.
He should be able to contain the Chicago Cubs for a second time this season and the batting lineup are expected to give Colin Rea a few problems.
Milwaukee Brewers have as much momentum as the Chicago Cubs and the pitching edge could see them move a few runs in front before turning things over to the bullpen to complete the job.
The Pick :
Milwaukee Brewers 6-1 Chicago Cubs
