A win this afternoon would keep the Cubs undefeated in the second half of the season.
Of course, to do that, the’ll have to go through Carlos Martinez and the St. Louis Cardinals first. Martinez is having a pretty good season and is line to toss more innings than he ever has in his career.
As we discussed in the Series Preview earlier, however, Martinez has made one fantastic start against the Pirates (7.0 IP, 2ER, 5H, 1BB, 5Ks) after back-to-back clunkers against the Mets and Nationals (combined: 10.0 IP, 10ER, 7BB, 7Ks). Apparently, home runs were his downfall in those starts, as he allowed two dingers in each contest. Hopefully, the Cubs can pick up where those teams left off and keep the offense rolling.
Starting opposite Martinez is Jake Arrieta. Arrieta has had a quietly nice stretch since back on May 21 (3.27 ERA, 51.1% ground ball rate), though he’s not without his clunkers either. Four starts ago, he allowed five earned runs on six hits and six walks in 4.0 innings against the Nationals. Although, he’s rebounded a bit since then: 1.86 ERA, 57.9% ground ball rate, only 14.0% hard contact). If Jake can keep getting the opposition to hit the ball on the ground and softly, then his ERA will continue to outpace his FIP by as much as it has.
Here’s to seven in a row, Cubs. Make it happen.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (49-45) at St. Louis Cardinals (46-49) – 1:20 CT on ABC-7, 670 The Score
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down in the comments, so let’s have some good, clean (safe-for-work) fun today.
Starting Pitchers
Cubs: Jake Arrieta (R): 4.17 ERA, 4.25 FIP, 4.05 xFIP; 2.76 K/BB
versus
Cardinals: Carlos Martinez (R): 3.36 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 3.68 xFIP; 2.89 K/BB
St. Louis Cardinals:
- Matt Carpenter, 1B
- Tommy Pham, LF
- Dexter Fowler, CF
- Jedd Gyorko, 3B
- Yadier Molina, C
- Paul DeJong, SS
- Kolton Wong, 2B
- Randal Grichuk, RF
- Carlos Martinez, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Willson Contreras, C
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Ian Happ, CF
- Addison Russell, SS
- Javy Baez, 3B
- Jake Arrieta, P
