Chicago’s losing woes show no sign of abating as the Cubs suffered a 7-2 defeat to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday. It was another disappointing setback for the Cubs who are now in the midst of a three-game losing streak. With the loss, the Cubs dropped to 47-23 in the NL Central standings.
The Cubs will look to end their losing rut when they face the Miami Marlins in the opening game of their four-game set tonight. Pitching for Chicago in the series opener is Jon Lester (9-3, 2.06 ERA). He was solid in his last start, allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings of action in the Cubs’ 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs have now won each of their last five games with Lester as their starter. His start against the Bucs was no walk in the park, however, as he allowed a season-high 11 baserunners.
Lester can’t do it all alone, though, and he needs the Cubs’ hitters to contribute on the offensive end as well. Expected to lead Chicago in that department tonight is Ben Zobrist. He is batting .375 (15-of-40) in his career against Miami starter Wei-Yin Chen with a homer and three RBIs. He went 0-for-3 in Wednesday’s loss to the Cards.
The Cubs are 6-4 in their last 10 road games. They are pegged at +150to win the National League pennant.
Starting for Miami in this National League matchup is left-hander Wei-Yin Chen (4-2, 5.22 ERA). He struggled mightily in his last start, allowing six runs on seven hits in just 2.1 innings of action. Luckily for Chen, the Marlins offense bailed him out as Miami pulled off a 9-6 victory against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday. Since throwing an impressive one-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 2, Chen has allowed a whopping 15 runs and seven homers in his last three starts (13.1 innings).
With Chen struggling with his command right now, the onus is on the Miami hitters to pick up the scoring slack tonight. Expected to lead the Marlins offense in the series opener against the Cubs is center fielder Marcell Ozuna. He leads the Marlins in homers (15), RBIs (43), hits (86) and batting average (.323) this season. Ozuna will be licking his chops at the prospect of facing Jon Lester as he is a perfect 2-of-2 lifetime against the Cubs right-hander.
Another guy who’s expected to contribute tonight is Martin Prado. He is batting .600 (6-of-10) lifetime against Lester with a pair of RBIs. He’s hitting well this season, slashing .320/.367/.410.
The Marlins are 3-2 in their last five home games against the Cubs. They are priced at +3,000to win the World Series this year.
