Yankees-Cubs Same Game Parlay: Cubs ML, Imanaga Strikeouts, and a Suzuki Total Bases Play for Friday at Wrigley

The Yankees roll into Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon for the opener of a three-game set with the Cubs, and this one has all the makings of a fun same game parlay for bettors who are still getting the hang of building multi-leg bets. First pitch is set for 2:20 p.m. ET, with Will Warren taking the mound for New York against Shota Imanaga for Chicago.

If you’re new to same game parlays, the idea is simple: instead of betting on just one outcome, you combine several bets from the same game into a single ticket. All of them have to hit for the parlay to pay out, but the payout is bigger than betting each leg separately. This one strings together a moneyline pick, a strikeout prop, and a total bases prop, and it’s built to be easy to follow even if this is your first SGP.

Leg 1: Cubs Win at Home

Chicago is favored at home, with sportsbooks pricing the Cubs between -136 and -159 on the moneyline depending on the book, while the Yankees sit as road underdogs in the +120 to +135 range. That gap reflects Chicago’s edge on paper: the Cubs enter Friday a game or two better than New York in the standings, and they get the platform advantage of the friendly confines with their crowd behind them from the first pitch.

Imanaga has been steady all year, sitting at 7-8 with a 3.72 ERA and a sharp 1.10 WHIP, meaning he doesn’t hand out a lot of free baserunners. Warren has had a solid season of his own for New York at 7-5 with a 4.41 ERA, but Imanaga’s ability to limit walks and hits gives Chicago a real starting pitching edge in this particular matchup. Betting the Cubs moneyline as the anchor of this parlay is about trusting the better arm on the mound in front of a home crowd.

Leg 2: Shota Imanaga Over 5.5 Strikeouts

Imanaga has punched out 113 batters already this season, and he’s coming into Friday averaging well over six strikeouts per start. Multiple sportsbooks have his strikeout total set at 5.5, with the over priced in the -137 to -142 range, meaning it’s the more likely side of that number to hit based on how books have shaded the line.

Beginners should think of a strikeout prop like this: the line is basically a bookmaker’s best guess at how many hitters a pitcher will strike out, and you’re betting whether the real number lands above or below that guess. Imanaga has cleared 5.5 strikeouts in a strong share of his starts this year thanks to a deep four-pitch mix that keeps hitters off balance, and Yankees hitters not named Aaron Judge have had their share of strikeout-prone stretches this season. That combination makes the over a reasonable, well-supported leg to pair with the moneyline.

Leg 3: Seiya Suzuki Over 1.5 Total Bases

Suzuki has quietly been one of Chicago’s most productive hitters, batting .260 with 13 home runs and 42 RBIs on the season, and his total bases prop for Friday is set at 1.5, with the over priced around +120. A total bases bet counts up a player’s bases from hits during the game — a single is one base, a double is two, a home run is four — so going over 1.5 just means Suzuki needs one extra-base hit, or two singles, anywhere in the game.

He’s shown he can get there in bunches, including a three-hit, one-homer game against San Diego earlier this season, and he’s had several multi-hit efforts against fastball-heavy pitching staffs like the one Warren and the Yankees bullpen will throw at him. Facing a Yankees staff at home in a hitter-friendly ballpark gives Suzuki a fair shot to clear that 1.5 total bases mark on Friday afternoon.

The Full Parlay

Put it all together and this SGP is: Cubs moneyline, Imanaga over 5.5 strikeouts, and Suzuki over 1.5 total bases. Combined, a parlay like this typically pays in the range of +500 to +600 depending on your sportsbook, since each individual leg carries close to even-money odds or a modest favorite price on its own — check your book for the exact combined number before placing it.

The logic behind stacking these three legs together is straightforward: Chicago’s better starting pitcher gives them an edge to win the game outright, that same starter has been a reliable strikeout artist all season, and one of their most consistent bats gets a favorable matchup to produce extra bases. None of these legs depend on a longshot outcome, which is exactly what makes this a good starter same game parlay for anyone easing into multi-leg betting for the first time. If you want to line-shop before locking it in, Hello Rookie’s live MLB odds page is a good place to compare numbers across books.