Business resumes as usual for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Chicago Cubs may have made the flashier moves during the offseason, but the Cardinals took care of business on the diamond to register their first win of the new year on Opening Day. The young Cubs must now recover from a demoralizing shutout behind last year’s breakout star Jake Arrieta, who’s looking to deliver a shutout of himself. Read on for a preview for Game 2 of this first week series.
Line: St. Louis Cardinals (+110) at Chicago Cubs (-120) – view all MLB lines
Betting on the St. Louis Cardinals
Jason Heyward made quite a first impression as a St. Louis Cardinal. The right fielder slotted right into the No. 2 hole and had three hits (two doubles) to lead the Cards to a 3-0 win over the Chicago Cubs. Matts Carpenter and Holliday each had two hits and drove in all three Cardinal runs, which were more than enough for ace Adam Wainwright to seal the win.
[sc:MLB240banner ]However, the top three in the Cardinals order could have a much quieter night against Cubs starter Jake Arrieta. Carpenter and Holliday are a combined 0-for-23 lifetime against the Cubs righty, while Heyward is 2-of-6.
Slugger Matt Adams, who launched 15 homers last season (12 against right-handed pitching), has had the most success against Arrieta (5-of-11, three RBIs) and will be counted on to get some crucial hits.
Lance Lynn is set to start his first game of the season for the Cards. Lynn established himself as a legit No. 2 starter last season as he dropped his ERA from 3.97 in 2013 to 2.74 in the same number of starts (33).
Despite being healthy for virtually the entire season, Lynn only faced the division rival Cubs once last year, a game the Cardinals won. St. Louis has historically fared well with Lynn on the mound against Chicago, going 7-3 in 10 career starts.
It was a sluggish start all around for the Cubs on Opening Night. Marquee free agent signing Jon Lester was rusty, allowing three runs on eight hits in just 4.1 innings of work. Meanwhile, their young but very talented and potential-rich lineup could only muster five hits against the Cardinals pitching staff.
Their top three in the order – Dexter Fowler, Jorge Soler and Anthony Rizzo – combined to go just 1-of-11 with five strikeouts. Starlin Castro, the team’s cleanup hitter, has gone 10-of-30 (.333) in his career against Lynn and could be a threat to drive in some runs. But to do that, he’ll need to have the men in front of him setting the tone and getting on base first.
The Cubs could need just a couple of runs to win with the way Jake Arrieta has pitched. The right-hander had a career year in 2014, his first full season as a Cubs starter. He started in 25 games and finished with a 2.53 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP, that would’ve finished third in the NL if he qualified with enough starts.
Arrieta was particularly deadly at home. He had a 1.46 ERA in 12 starts at Wrigley last season, over two runs lower than on the road. The Cubs won his last four home starts last September, which included a gem against the Cardinals. He went seven innings of shutout ball with 10 strikeouts. Arrieta started four games against St. Louis last season and gave up just three earned runs in 22.1 innings.
Writer’s Prediction
The Cubs bounce back behind Arrieta for a 4-2 win.
