The St. Louis Cardinals (50-24) are on cruise control right now. After beating the Chicago Cubs, 8-1, on Saturday, the Cards became the first team to reach 50 wins this season. Up next for St. Louis is the series finale against the Cubs (39-34) who are looking to snap a four-game slide. Will the Cards extend their win streak? Or will the Cubs right their ship with a victory?
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Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals Preview
Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis
When: Sunday, June 28, 2015, 8:00 PM ET
Line: Chicago Cubs (+118) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (-128); total: 7.0– view all MLB lines
Betting on the Chicago Cubs
[sc:MLB240banner ]Runs have been hard to come by for the Cubs of late, and their struggles at the plate were obvious again in their loss to St. Louis Sunday. The Cubs’ offense will have to recover from its slump or else heighten the team’s chances of suffering their fifth consecutive loss when they take on St. Louis again later tonight.
Chicago has been outscored by its opponents 20-6 over the Cubs’ last six games. Part of the problem in the Cubs’ offense lately is the poor hitting of rookie Kris Bryant, who batted just 4-for-22 (.182) over the last seven games. Although he hit two homers and drove in four RBI’s during that stretch, he could’ve done more to complement the performances of Chicago’s leadoff hitters Chris Denorfia and Anthony Rizzo, who hit .313 and .269, respectively over the Cubs’ past seven games.
Denorfia’s spot atop the order, however, has been taken over by Dexter Fowler, who’s now back to being the Cubs’ regular leadoff hitter. Fowler, though, went hitless in four at-bats in Sunday’s loss to St. Louis.
On the mound for Chicago later tonight is Jason Hammel (5-2, 2.65 ERA), who unfortunately didn’t pick up a win last Thursday despite a terrific effort in Chicago’s 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Hammel threw tossed seven plus scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out six against the Dodgers. Hamel is 4-2 with a 3.02 ERA and opponents’ batting average of .213 in eight road starts this year.
The under is 4-0 in Hammel’s last four starts away from Wrigley Field.
All the Cards do is win these days. On pace to notch their second series sweep in a row, the Cards will give the ball to Carlos Martinez later tonight for the series finale against Chicago.
The Cards more or less know that they’re in good hands when Martinez (8-3, 2.89 ERA) is on the mound, as they are 6-1 in the Dominican righty’s last seven starts overall. That includes the Cards’ 4-3 win over Miami on Thursday, when Martinez yielded three runs on eight hits and struck out nine batters in seven frames on the mound. Martinez was hit in the shoulder while trying to bunt, but appears to be okay enough to take on the Cubs. The Cards might opt to limit Martinez’s innings as a precaution, a luxury for a team that boasts of the best set of relievers t in the majors. The Cards’ bullpen is No. 1 in ERA (2.07) and third in FIP (3.18) thus far this season.
Pumping the Cards’ confidence even more is their success against Cubs’ starter Jason Hammel. Overall, the Cards have a collective career batting average of .348 opposite Hammel. Jayson Heyward, who went 2-for-3 in Sunday’s win over Chicago, is a career .571 (8-for-14) hitter against Hammel. Jhonny Peralta, on the other hand, is 8-for-20 (.400) with a double and two homers off the Cubs’ right-hander.
