Series Preview: Cardinals v. Cubs, August 19 – August 21, 2011

The Chicago Cubs don’t have much tangible to play for the rest of this season, but… putting the final nail in the Cardinals’ playoff coffin would be damn sweet.

By way of reminder, the Series Preview hooks you up with what you need to know about every series this year – streaks, broadcast information, pitchers, lineups, etc. That way you can look like a genius, hardcore fan in front of all your friends, with minimum effort. Oh, and there will be pictures of beautiful women, too.

We’re Going Streaking

The Cubs had won four straight series before running into the buzz saw in Houston. I’d blast the Cubs for losing to the Astros, but, really, could anyone beat that team right now?

The Cardinals haven’t exactly been struggling – they’ve won 8 of 13 – but the Brewers have been so hot that the Cardinals have fallen 6.5 out in the Central. A couple more series losses, and it’s curtains.

Game Times and Broadcasts

• Friday, August 19 at 1:20 CT on CSN.
• Saturday, August 20 at 3:10 CT on FOX.
• Sunday, August 21 at 7:05 CT on ESPN.

Expected Starters and Lineups

These lineups are likely to be pretty close to what actually gets fielded.

Cubs

Starters: Randy Wells (4-4, 5.90), Matt Garza (5-9, 3.80), Rodrigo Lopez (probably) (4-3, 4.66)

Lineup:

1. Castro, SS
2. Barney, 2B
3. Ramirez, 3B
4. Pena, 1B
5. Byrd, CF
6. Soriano, LF
7. Soto, C
8. Colvin, RF
9. Pitcher

Cardinals

Starters: Jaime Garcia (10-6, 3.42), Edwin Jackson (2-1, 4.62), Jake Westbrook (9-7, 4.81)

Lineup:

1. Jon Jay, CF
2. Rafael Furcal, SS
3. Albert Pujols, 1B
4. Matt Holliday, LF
5. Lance Berkman, RF
6. David Freese, 3B
7. Yadier Molina, C
8. Skip Schumaker, 2B
9. Pitcher

Hot or Not and Whom to Watch

Darwin Barney is still hot, with 11 hits in his last 23 at bats. My concerns remain: during that stretch, he’s taken just one walk, and all 11 hits were singles.

Randy Wells has gone on a two-month stretch of not-God-awful, but not-particularly-good starts. Forearm injury or no forearm injury, he could use a string of affirmatively good starts to end the season. He could also stand to have a few scoreless first innings.

Matt Garza has just one win in his last nine starts.

Speaking of the meaninglessness of “wins,” Jake Westbrook hasn’t won in almost a month, but he actually hasn’t been that bad.

Jaime Garcia has been struggling with some mechanical issues, and hasn’t gone more than five innings in any of his last three starts. His ERA has risen from around three to three and a half in the last month.

Oh, Albert Pujols. You had to know he’d get his: since May 30, he’s gone .314/.377/.677. And suddenly, he’s leading the NL in homers with 30.

Series She-View

The Series She-View is one beautiful woman representing the Cubs taking on another (usually) beautiful woman representing the opponent. The Cubs’ representative will change as the team’s needs change – in other words, if the Cubs are winning, the rep will stay the same. But if the Cubs’ performance calls for a change, someone new will step in. The opponent’s representative will change from series to series, at my whim. But at least she’ll probably be wearing the opponent’s colors or have some connection to the team or something like that.

Well, I suppose it’s finally time to change the Cubs’ current rep, Victoria’s Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Although the Cubs went on their most prolonged winning stretch under her watch, and only lost one series, that series loss was to the Astros. That means you gotta move on.

Enter reader Laura. No, she’s not the rep, but, having previously suggested winning options, she once again hit me up on Twitter to suggest a rep for the Cubs. She just so happens to be from Chicago, and another Victoria’s Secret model: Joanna Krupa. And, yeah, she’s hot.

As for the Cardinals, they get Lance Berkman and his dog. Don’t ask questions. It’s the way it must be.

Versus