St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs Preview
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
When: Friday, July 21, 2017, 2:20 PM ET
Line: St. Louis Cardinals (+137) at Chicago Cubs (-152) – view all MLB lines
TV Broadcast: WLS, FSMW
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Betting on the St. Louis Cardinals (46-49)
St. Louis’ losing woes show no sign of abating as the Cardinals suffered a disappointing 3-2 defeat to the New York Mets on Thursday. The Cards have now lost three of their last five outings as they dropped down to 46-49 in the NL Central standings. They now trail the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers by 4.5 games.
With St. Louis struggling mightily right now, the pressure is on Carlos Martinez to deliver a quality start for the Cardinals later today. He was solid in his last start against the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing two runs on five hits in seven innings of action. The Cardinals couldn’t turn Martinez’s strong performance into a victory, however, as they suffered a gut-wrenching 4-3 loss. Martinez has now taken a no-decision or a loss despite making a quality start for St. Louis a whopping seven times this season.
The 25-year-old has a 3.36 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP in 123.1 innings (19 starts) this season, yet his record is just 6-8. The Cardinals have lost Martinez’s last five appearances, despite three of them being quality starts. Martinez can’t do it all alone and he needs the Cards’ offense to wake up from its slumber. They are fifth-worst in the National League in RBIs and runs scored this campaign. One guy who needs to step up for the Cardinals is Jedd Gyorko. He has been doing it all for St. Louis, leading the team not only in batting average (.290) but also in homers (14), RBIs (49) and hits (86) this season. Gyorko’s just 5-for-27 at the plate, however, since the All-Star break.
The Cardinals are 5-5 in their last 10 road games.
Betting on the Chicago Cubs (49-45)
The Chicago Cubs will head to Wrigley Field with momentum on their side after sweeping their recent six-game road trip. The defending champs are now inching their way toward first place in the NL Central, making up 4.5 games since the All-Star break to sit just one game behind the reeling Milwaukee Brewers.
Offense has been the catalyst for the Cubs’ strong second half run, scoring a total of 44 runs in their series sweeps of Baltimore and Atlanta. That’s great news for pitcher Jake Arrieta (9-7, 4.17 ERA) who gets the start for Chicago in the series opener against St. Louis. The right-hander is 1-1 in two starts vs. St. Louis this year. Arrieta was superb in his first start after the All-Star break, holding the Orioles to two runs on four hits over 6.2 innings. Arrieta has been in fine form of late, limiting opponents to one or fewer earned runs in three of his last five starts.
The Cubs are 5-5 in their last 10 home games.
Writer’s Prediction
The Cubs (-152) keep the momentum going with a 5-0 win.
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