The Cubs are the hottest team in MLB, having won 15 of their last 19, and the Cardinals, as you’ll see below, are on a skid. Here’s hoping the Cubs keep that skid going.
Standings update: The Reds did the Cubs a favor Thursday by defeating the Brewers, so the Cubs enter Friday’s action five games behind Milwaukee, six in the loss column. The Cubs also moved half a game ahead of the Phillies for the top wild-card spot when the Phillies lost to the Pirates on Thursday.
For more on the Cardinals, here’s Doc Holliday, manager of our SB Nation Cardinals site Viva el Birdos.
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Cardinals have been on a downward freefall, losing eight of their last 13 games
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JJ Wetherholt has gone through a mini-slump, 6-for-34 since June 23. Had two hits Thursday in Atlanta, though.
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Jordan Walker hasn’t completely fallen off the wagon, but he’s cooled off from his first two months of the season. Thursday, Jordan hit his first home run since June 13.
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Matthew Liberatore has been so off that there are many who think he should go back to mid-inning relief and be taken out of the rotation
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Since the last time the Cards/Cubs played, Nolan Gorman has been sent to Triple-A Memphis – Blaze Jordan is now manning third base and has provided better offense than Gorman
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Dustin May skipped his last start due to back tightness – he tossed one of the best games of the year a couple weeks ago, but got shelled the next
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The consensus among a majority of the fanbase now is that the rebuild will continue and Dustin May, Lars Nootbaar and JoJo Romero are likely to be wearing other uniforms after the trade deadline. It’s also 50/50 if the Cardinals move first baseman Alec Burleson.
Fun facts
It only took playing 87 other games first, but at long last the Cubs will welcome the Cardinals to Wrigley Field for the first time beginning Friday.
The Cards won two of three games at St. Louis on May 29-31.
The Cubs swept three games at Wrigley to close out last season, after having taken two of three July 4-6. In thefirst of those games, they hit eight home runs, setting a team record they tied on Wednesday against the Padres.
The Cubs are 715-551 at home vs. the Cards, a winning percentage of .565. They are .545 at home vs. all other teams.
In 2,529 total games between the teams since 1892, when the Cardinals joined the National League from the American Association, the Cubs have won only 54 more games than the Cards, 1,282 to 1,228, while scoring just 19 more runs, 11,057 to 11,038.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Probable pitching matchups
Friday: David Peterson, LHP (4-6, 5.86 ERA, 1.588 WHIP, 3.92 FIP overall; 1-0, 3.18 ERA, 0.882 WHIP, 4.70 FIP in one start with the Cubs) vs. Andre Pallante, RHP (9-5, 3.83 ERA, 1.231 WHIP, 3.97 FIP)
Saturday: Shōta Imanaga, LHP (5-6, 4.30 ERA, 1.078 WHIP, 4.68 FIP) vs. Kyle Leahy, RHP (6-4. 4.09 ERA, 1.475 WHIP, 4.19 FIP)
Sunday: Javier Assad, RHP (6-1, 4.53 ERA, 1.123 WHIP, 5.24 FIP) vs. Matthew Liberatore, LHP (4-5, 5.33 ERA, 1.548 WHIP, 5.11 FIP)
Times & TV channels
Friday: 3:05 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Saturday: 7:08 p.m. CT, Fox-TV (regional — coverage map, scroll down to the bottom of that link). A reminder that if you subscribe to MLB.TV or MLB Extra Innings, you can watch this game via those services even if it’s not on the Fox affiliate in your market. Announcers: Joe Davis, John Smoltz and Ken Rosenthal.
Sunday: 1:30 p.m. CT, streaming on Peacock (full national broadcast, no blackouts). Announcers: Alex Cohen, Mark Sweeney and Taylor McGregor.
Prediction
As noted above, the Cubs are hot and the Cardinals are not. That should be enough for the Cubs to win two of three here.
Up next
The Cubs have Monday off, then travel to Baltimore to face the Orioles in a three-game series beginning Tuesday evening.
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