Giants @ Cubs

Who will WIN this matchup?

San Francisco Giants (63-64)

@ Chicago Cubs (68-58)

Starting Pitchers:

Samardzija (SF): 9-9; 3.54 ERA

Hendricks (CHC) 8-9; 3.37 ERA

Last 10 Games Played:

San Francisco Giants: 6-4

Chicago Cubs: 5-5

Current odds:

San Francisco Giants: (+152)

Chicago Cubs: (-162)

• Nicholas Castellanos has been on a tear since joining the Chicago Cubs at the trade deadline and quickly is becoming the toast of the town. Castellanos is batting .392 with eight home runs, 12 RBIs and 17 runs in 19 games and looks for more when the surging Cubs try for a three-game sweep of the visiting San Francisco Giants on Thursday afternoon. “It’s awesome to see the energy he’s bringing,” Chicago pitcher Cole Hamels told reporters about Castellanos, who went 4-for-5 and homered for the third straight game in Wednesday’s 12-11 victory. “It’s outstanding. In the clubhouse, he’s fit right in.” The Cubs have won four straight and took over first place in the National League Central after St. Louis lost to Milwaukee 5-3 on Wednesday.

• San Francisco’s wild-card hopes are fading fast as it is five games behind the Cardinals for the second spot after losing for the 14th time in its last 17 contests at Wrigley Field. The Giants’ Jeff Samardzija and Chicago’s Kyle Hendricks – 4-2 with a 1.98 ERA in 10 home starts this season – take the mound Thursday in a matchup of right-handers who have yielded fewer than three runs in eight of their last nine turns.

• Samardzija settled for a no-decision after allowing two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings of San Francisco’s 10-9 victory at Arizona on Friday – the Giants’ seventh straight win in a road start by Samardzija. The 34-year-old native of Indiana, who went 31-42 with a 3.97 ERA in seven seasons with Chicago to start his career, is 5-2 with a 2.09 ERA in his last nine turns. Kris Bryant is 4-for-9 with a home run and Jason Heyward has gone 3-for-16 with two home runs and six strikeouts versus Samardzija, who is 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA in three career starts versus Chicago.

• Hendricks lowered his road ERA to 4.76 after yielding one run and three hits in seven innings of a no-decision in the Cubs’ 3-2 loss at Pittsburgh on Friday. The 29-year-old Californian is 1-4 with a 3.38 ERA over his last nine starts, with three of the four losses coming on the road. Brandon Belt is 6-for-16 with a home run while Buster Posey is 3-for-21 against Hendricks, who is 3-2 with a 2.47 ERA in seven career turns versus the Giants.

• Cubs RHP Brandon Morrow on Wednesday was shut down for the season because of an elbow injury.

• San Francisco CF Kevin Pillar has homered in each of his last two games but is 2-for-13 in the past three contests after going 21-for-42 in his previous 11 games.

• Chicago 1B Anthony Rizzo is one of four players to hit at least 25 home runs in every season since 2014. The Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout, the New York Yankees’ Edwin Encarnacion and Minnesota’s Nelson Cruz are the others.