Philadelphia Phillies at Chicago Cubs prediction, pick for 6/29

Hot pitchers clash as Cubs host Phillies

Taijuan Walker is pitching well enough to put the Philadelphia Phillies in prime position to stay hot on the road.

Meanwhile, Kyle Hendricks is showing he can possibly help the Chicago Cubs halt their current slide.

Walker will try to match a career high of five straight winning starts and help extend the Phillies' season-high road winning streak to nine games when Philadelphia faces the Cubs on Thursday night.

After outscoring Chicago 13-6 to win the first two games of this three-game set, Philadelphia is 17-5 since June 3. With homers from Nick Castellanos, Edmundo Sosa and Josh Harrison during Wednesday's 8-5 victory, the Phillies have gone deep 13 times during their eight-game road winning streak.

Philadelphia last won nine straight on the road in 1984.

"The key is just to ride the high as long as you can," Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh said.

Phillies' starting pitchers have a 2.24 ERA over the past 22 games.

Walker (8-3, 4.10 ERA) has been a big reason for that success, yielding just two runs and 14 hits, while striking out 26, over 26 innings in each of his past four starts. The right-hander allowed a third-inning homer, and two other hits, through six innings of Friday's 5-1 home victory over the New York Mets.

"My body is feeling good," said Walker, who won five straight starts in 2015 for Seattle.

"I feel like when my velocity is up, I think everything just plays a little bit better."

Walker is 1-0 with 1.47 ERA in his last three starts against the Cubs. He gave up two hits and overcame three walks to last 5 1/3 scoreless innings during a 2-1 win over Chicago on May 21.

Meanwhile, Hendricks (3-2, 2.60) has allowed just eight hits and owns a 1.40 ERA while winning his past three starts. That run came after going 0-2 with a 4.11 ERA in the first three starts since making his season debut May 25 in his return from a shoulder issue.

The right-hander yielded three runs, but only one earned, plus two hits and three walks over 6 1/3 innings of an 8-3 win at Pittsburgh from June 21. Hendricks, who will look to help Chicago snap a three-game skid, is 4-2 with a 4.46 ERA in seven starts against the Phillies but last faced them in 2021.

Bryce Harper and Castellanos are a combined 11-for-36 (.306) with one home run apiece vs. Hendricks. Meanwhile, Josh Harrison, who homered Wednesday, is 11-for-26 (.423) with three homers against him.

Castellanos, who had a three-run homer and four RBIs on Wednesday, is batting .374 with 13 home runs in 45 career games at Wrigley Field, where he played part of the 2019 season with the Cubs.

Chicago, four games under .500, needs to get back on track amid a tough stretch that will continue this weekend against AL Central-leading Cleveland. That will be followed by road dates with Milwaukee and the New York Yankees before the All-Star break.

"We've got the guys in this clubhouse to turn it around ... and keep moving forward," Chicago's Cody Bellinger told MLB.com.

With five hits in this series, the Cubs' Nick Madrigal is batting .400 (16-for-40) in his last 13 games.