The St. Louis Cardinals (5-4) are in the midst of eight games in five days in the city of Chicago after their return to play started on Saturday. Tuesday’s 8:15 p.m. EDT game is their only non-double header this week against the Chicago Cubs (13-7) at Wrigley Field, and the game will be televised nationally on FS1.
The Cardinals will start RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon (0-1, 6.75) against Cubs RHP Yu Darvish (3-1, 1.88) after a Monday doubleheader split. The teams will play another doubleheader on Wednesday, with the Cardinals being the home team in game two as they were on Monday.
St. Louis Cardinals Outlook: Youth Movement
It has been a tough month for the Cardinals with three weeks missed due to the positive COVID tests. With veterans like Yadier Molina, Paul DeJong, Carlos Martinez, and others missing from the team, St. Louis has had nine players make their MLB debut since Saturday.
Infielder Brad Miller has filled in with two homers in Monday’s doubleheader while OF Dexter Fowler also went deep. Paul Goldschmidt has two homers on the season to go with a .314 average in 10 games. Most of the new Cardinals have been relievers, and they have held their own with six tossing scoreless innings.
Ponce de Leon makes his second start of the season after losing at Minnesota on July 29 when he allowed three runs on two hits and three walks over three 2/3innings. The only time he has faced the Cubs in his three-year MLB career was a one-inning outing on September 30, 2018, in which he didn’t allow a hit or run.
Chicago Cubs Outlook: Darvish Dominates
The Cubs snapped a four-game home losing streak with the 5-4 game two wins on Monday. The offense has struggled so far this season with Javy Baez, Kris Bryant, Albert Almora, Nico Hoerner, and David Bote all batting below .210. OF Ian Happ has been a bright spot batting .297/.416/.578 with four homers.
The Cubs starting pitching has been fantastic all season with a combined 12-5 record from their five traditional starters. While Craig Kimbrel lost the closing job with a few shaky outings, RH Rowan Wick and RH Jeremy Jeffress have stepped in going 5-for-5 in save chances with a combined 1.08 ERA.
Darvish has been fantastic so far this season with three straight wins in which he allowed eight total hits over 20 innings while striking out 22. He flirted with a no-hitter on Thursday against Milwaukee with the only hit coming on a one-out solo homer in the seventh inning.
Last season he went 0-2 in four starts against the Cardinals with 11 earned runs allowed on 22 hits over 24 1/3 innings. Goldschmidt and Miller both have home runs against Darvish while Edman is 4-for-7, Kolten Wong is 2-for-5, and Matt Carpenter is 3-for-8 with two RBI.
St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs Betting Lines
St. Louis Cardinals to win: +170
Chicago Cubs to win: -182
Over/Under: 8.5 runs (O -115, U +100)
The Cubs have a distinct advantage in starting pitching and experience in this game, but the young players for the Cardinals have held their own thus far. While the Cardinals beat Cubs ace, Kyle Hendricks, on Monday, asking them to do it again while holding the Chicago offense down may be too much.
FREE PICK: Cubs to win (-182)
