There’s no one here who wouldn’t have been thrilled, at the conclusion of Tuesday night’s game – the second straight heartbreaker – that the Cubs would ultimately win the next two games and split this series with the Cardinals.
Heck, I bet the majority of fans would have felt OK about splitting the series if they’d been told that’s what the outcome would be back on Sunday.
In other words: we really want to see the Cubs win this one. It would change the complexion of this series dramatically. Sure, you’d still be bummed about those losses that could have been wins, but at least the Cubs didn’t lose heartbreakers AND come out of St. Louis having lost a four-game series.
Jake Arrieta goes for the Cubs today, trying to bounce back from a decent-but-not-great outing against the Brewers over the weekend (which, for him, might as well be a bad outing since he’s typically dominant). The Cubs could use another deep, solid start – and Arrieta gets an assist from the Cardinals, who are sitting Matts Carpenter and Holliday to start the game.
For the Cubs, it’s a shifted lineup, as we discussed earlier. Hopefully it produces the same level of offense the Cubs have had all series. Nay, more!
And if it could not be an absolutely heart-stopping affair throughout, that would be great.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (14-12) at St. Louis Cardinals (20-7), 12:45 CT on CSN and MLB.tv.
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down there in the comments, so have fun.
The Series Preview lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Jake Arrieta (2.84 ERA, 2.76 FIP, 3.01 xFIP; 3.88 K/BB)
versus
John Lackey (3.69 ERA, 3.67 FIP, 4.14 xFIP; 2.25 K/BB)
St. Louis Cardinals Lineup
1. Jon Jay, LF
2. Kolten Wong, 2B
3. Jhonny Peralta, SS
4. Matt Adams, 1B
5. Mark Reynolds, 3B
6. Jason Heyward, RF
7. Yadier Molina, C
8. Peter Bourjos, CF
9. John Lackey, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Chris Coghlan, LF
2. Kris Bryant, 3B
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Miguel Montero, C
5. Jorge Soler, RF
6. Starlin Castro, SS
7. Matt Szczur, CF
8. Jake Arrieta, P
9. Addison Russell, 2B