Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals Preview
There does appear to be a chance of rain in Chicago on Friday, where the Cubs and Cardinals will face off at Wrigley Field. First pitch for this one is set for 2:20 PM ET. Javier Assad is starting for the Cubs, and they are on a two-game winning streak, while the Cardinals have Erick Fedde on the mound.
St. Louis is currently 2nd in the NL Central with a record of 56-53, while the Cubs are 5th in the division at 53-58. The money line odds have the Cardinals at -111 compared to the Cubs at -107. The over/under line is at 7.5 runs, and this game can be seen on MARQ.
Check out BetCoco for Chicago Cubs – St. Louis Cardinals odds
Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals Trends and Key Stats
- The Cardinals are 2-3 across their last five road games. They have gone 3-2 vs. the runline.
- Conversely, the Cubs have achieved a 3-2 (SU) record and 3-2 record in their last five home games.
- Over the last ten games, Cardinals has a record of 4-6 when playing as favorites and 5-5 when playing as underdogs.
- The Cubs are 4-6 (favorite) and 6-4 (underdog).
Chicago picked up a 5-4 win over the Cardinals in the most recent game of this series. The Cubs had a three-run 9th inning, scoring the game’s final run on a walk-off wild pitch. Heading into the game, the Cubs were favored at -116 on the money line.
St. Louis wasted a good outing from Sonny Gray, as he gave up just two earned runs in seven innings of work for the Cardinals. Ryan Helsley took the loss. Nate Pearson got the win out of the bullpen for the Cubs as Shota Imanaga went 6 2/3 innings, giving up four earned runs.
Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki each homered for the Cubs, while Paul Goldschmidt went deep for the Cardinals. Goldschmidt finished the game 3/5 with two RBIs.
Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction
The Cardinals are 56-53 overall and trail the Brewers by 5.5 games in the NL Central. So far, they are 16-17 in divisional matchups. St. Louis lost the first game of this series vs. the Cubs and has an overall series record of 17-14-3.
At home, the Cardinals have gone 29-25 this year, and they are just above .500 at 27-28 on the road. As the favorite, St. Louis is 29-26 and 27-27 as the underdog. Looking at their recent performance, the Cardinals are just 4-6 over their last 10 games.
When the Cardinals are underdogs, they tend to cover the run line, going 36-18. Their average run differential in those games is -0.3. When they are favored, they are just 19-36 against the run line.
The St. Louis Cardinals are on the road against the Chicago Cubs today with an over/under line of 7.5 runs. The Cardinals have an over/under record of 53-53 on the season, and their games have averaged 8.7 runs per game. When the over/under line is set at 7.5 runs, their record is 8-14. Their games have had an average over/under line of 8 runs per game, and 76.1% of their games have had lines set higher than 7.5 runs. They are currently on a streak of four consecutive games going over the total.
Right-hander Erick Fedde gets the start for the Cardinals today as he faces the Cubs on the road. He has made 21 starts this season and has a record of 7-4 with a 3.11 ERA. Looking at his overall numbers, Fedde has a WHIP of 1.14 and has turned in 10 quality starts. In his last outing, he took the loss, giving up three earned runs in four innings of work. Before that, he had won three straight starts. Fedde’s ERA on the road is 4.35 compared to 2.09 at home.
St. Louis comes into the game with the 20th ranked scoring offense in the league, averaging 4.2 runs per game. They have been slightly better at home, averaging 4.4 runs per game. As a team, the Cardinals are batting .247, which is 10th in the league, and they are also 10th in on-base percentage. One area they have struggled in is in the power department, as their collective isolated power is just 21st in the league.
Alec Burleson has been the Cardinals’ top power threat this season, as his 18 home runs are 2nd on the team and 13th in the league. He is also the team’s leading run producer, with 63 RBIs. Nolan Gorman has hit 19 homers this season, but he is batting just .202. Over his last six games, Masyn Winn has gone 6/26 with two homers.
Chicago is 53-58 overall and 5th in the NL Central, trailing the Brewers by 9.5 games. The Cubs are 15-25 against other teams in the NL Central. The Cubs have won two straight games, and they have been the underdog in three straight wins.
At home, the Cubs are 28-25 this season and 25-33 on the road. Chicago’s overall series record is 12-19-3, and they have dropped two straight series at home. So far, they are 5-5 in their last ten games.
Chicago has been a better run line bet on the road this season, going 34-24 compared to 19-34 at home. The Cubs have also been a solid run line bet as the underdog, going 40-20, compared to just 13-38 as the favorite. Their average run differential in wins is +3.4, while it’s -3.2 in losses.
Today’s over/under line of 7.5 runs for the Chicago Cubs’ game against the St. Louis Cardinals is lower than their average combined run average of 8.4 runs per game. The Cubs have gone over the total in 47 of their 107 games this season, and their over/under record is 12-11 when the line is set at 7.5 runs.
Javier Assad is getting the start for the Cubs today vs. the Cardinals and comes into the game with a record of 5-3 and an ERA of 3.23. So far this season, he has made 19 starts, and opponents are batting .240 off the right-hander. In his 19 appearances, Assad has turned in four quality starts and is averaging 8.18 strikeouts per nine innings. Most recently, he faced the Royals and picked up the win, going six innings and giving up three earned runs. Before that outing, he had given up at least three earned runs in three straight starts.
Coming into the game, the Cubs are averaging just 4.2 runs per game, which is 23rd in the league. This is a result of their below-average home run numbers and batting average. As a team, they are batting just .234, and their team slugging percentage of .379 is also below the league average.
Seiya Suzuki has been swinging a hot bat of late, going 12/31 in his last eight games with three homers and seven RBIs. For the season, he is hitting .273 with 16 homers. Ian Happ leads the team with 62 RBIs, but he is batting just .233 for the season. Happ’s 17 homers is 14th in the league.
Our predicted final score for this Cardinals vs. Cubs matchup is 6-5 in favor of the Cubs. With the Cubs being the money line pick at -107, this is the best way to play this game.
Looking at the starting pitchers, we have Javier Assad finishing with four strikeouts, which is better than Erick Fedde, who we have finishing with just three. Assad is also projected to finish with fewer earned runs than Fedde.
Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals Betting Tips
- Take the Cardinals on the moneyline
- On the run line we like Cubs (+1.5)
- Projecting a combined 11 runs, we like the over
Chicago Cubs Injury Report
| Player | Status | Injury |
|---|---|---|
| Yency Almonte | Out | Shoulder |
| Colten Brewer | Out | Hand |
| Tomás Nido | Out | Knee |
| Keegan Thompson | Out | Ribs |
| Adbert Alzolay | Out | Forearm |
| Ben Brown | Out | Neck |
| Hayden Wesneski | Out | Forearm |
| Luke Little | Out | Shoulder |
| Jordan Wicks | Out | Oblique |
St. Louis Cardinals Injury Report
| Player | Status | Injury |
|---|---|---|
| Lance Lynn | Out | Knee |
| Steven Matz | Out | Back |
| Keynan Middleton | Out | Forearm |
| Drew Rom | Out | Biceps |
| Riley O’Brien | Out | Forearm |
