St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs Betting Preview
Two divisional rivals out of the National League Central will get together on Thursday for the first of a four-game series. The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs will meet at Wrigley Field. The Cardinals are coming off sweeping the Miami Marlins at home and have won five in a row.
St. Louis is now 43-53 on the season, fourth place in the National League Central. The Cubs won the last two games of their series against Washington at home. The win for the Cubs pushed them to 45-50, which is third place in the National League Central.
The Chicago Cubs are small favorites in this game. The Cubs are listed at -125 with Stroman on the mound. St. Louis, despite playing hot baseball as of late, are listed at +105. The total for this game is listed at nine runs.
St. Louis Seeking Sixth Straight
St. Louis is trying to get back in the National League Central race and looking for their sixth straight win. The offense has been anchored by the bats of the Nolan’s. Nolan Arenado and Nolan Gorman had big days on Wednesday. Arenado got the party started with the first RBI, while Gorman hit a three-run home run and finished with four runs batted in. Arenado leads the team with 71 on the season.
The St. Louis Cardinals are sending lefthander Steven Matz to the mound in this one. The 32-year-old is back in the rotation for St. Louis after time out of the bullpen. Matz is 0-7 this season with a 4.86 earned run average. He has been better as of late, allowing just six runs over his last 18.2 innings while striking out 21.
Cubs Trying to Calm Down Red Hot Cardinals
The Cubs’ offense went crazy in the win on Tuesday over Washington. Chicago trailed the 3-0 early before scoring 17 runs in the final five innings of play. Seiya Suzuki was big in the game, as he clubbed a home run and had four hits in the game. Suzuki is hitting .259 with eight home runs on the season. Chicago then came back with eight more runs in the win on Wednesday.
The Cubs are a strange team because they are ranking in the Top 10 in an on of the offensive categories, including runs scored and on base percentage. They also are in the Top 10 in hits allowed and home runs allowed. But, putting it all together has been a challenge for Dacid Ross’ squad, who still remain under .500.
Chicago will counter with Marcus Stroman in this one. Stroman has ten wins and could be pitching for a chance to be traded to a contender at the deadline. The last time Stroman faced the Cardinals, they roughed him up for eight hits and six runs over just 3.1 innings. Since then, Stroman has struck out 16 over 16.2 innings pitched.
Cardinals Win Sixth in a Row
There is a reason the St. Louis Cardinals were the favorites to win the National League Central. The Cardinals have a great offense. The pitching has not worked really well for St. Louis, but as of late, they have been better. Matz is due for a big outing, and against the Cubs, to start the road trip would be a great place to start.
In a tight one, we are taking the St. Louis Cardinals to top the Chicago Cubs. Bet St. Louis +105 over Chicago on Thursday.
