First pitch: Sunday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: N/A, Total: N/A

Jake Arrieta and the Cubs will be looking to earn a big road victory over the Astros on Sunday.

The Cubs have been the most dominant team in baseball and they’re now just going to be hoping that they can stay hot heading into the postseason. Winning games like these will help Chicago, as these nationally televised games are the types of contests that mimic a playoff atmosphere. The Astros, meanwhile, have a ton of work to do in order to get back to the postseason. Houston is in a dogfight with the Tigers, Yankees and Astros for the final Wild Card spot and it would be big if the team could win this one at home on Sunday. The starters in this contest are set to be RHP Jake Arrieta (16-6, 2.84 ERA, 168 K) for the Cubs and RHP Mike Fiers for the Astros (10-6, 4.29 ERA, 116 K). This is a huge mismatch on paper, as Arrieta is one of the frontrunners to win the NL Cy Young Award. Fiers, however, is a different pitcher in Minute Maid Park, as he is 6-3 with a 3.33 ERA at home this season.

The Cubs will be sending Jake Arrieta to the mound on Sunday night and he should be able to turn in a very good performance in this one. Arrieta has looked incredible in his past two road starts, allowing no earned runs in 16 innings of work. He allowed just five hits over those two games and it’d be big if he can turn in another outing like that on Sunday. He will, however, need to be careful with his pitches, as this Astros team hits a ton of homers. As for run support, 1B Anthony Rizzo is going to be looking forward to getting up to the plate in this game and he just might be able to drive in some runs in this one. Rizzo has given Fiers nightmares over the years, as he is 6-for-9 with a double, two homers and three RBI against him in his career. It’s hard to imagine he won’t be able to find success in this one.

Mike Fiers is the starter for Houston on Sunday and he’ll be hoping to hold his own against Arrieta in this one. Although Arrieta is far better than he is, Fiers is a very good pitcher at home. He has allowed three or fewer earned runs in each of his past four starts at Minute Maid Park. If he can do something like that on Sunday then the Astros will be confident in their chances of earning a victory. Offensively, Houston will be counting on its big bats in this one. Not a lot of these guys have any history with Arrieta, so the superstars will need to be ready to go. 2B Jose Altuve is one of the best hitters in baseball, so he should be able to get on base in this one. OF George Springer and SS Carlos Correa, meanwhile, will be hoping to provide some power for the Astros. Both of them have a ton of pop in their bats and are threats to go yard every time they step up to the plate.