Series Preview: Cubs at Cardinals, July 27 – July 29, 2018

Alright, baby. Another series against the Cardinals, who’s ready to put them away?

When the #Cardinals are 9.0 games back and start a three game set against the first-place #Cubs at the end of July … pic.twitter.com/BjSiQbyFRo

— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) July 27, 2018

I kid, but only slightly. If the Cubs were managed to sweep this series (a tough bet in St. Louis, to be sure), the Cardinals would be a staggering 12.0 games out of first at the end of July. And even if the Cubs lose this series, but win one game, the Cardinals would still have a massive 8.0-game deficit to overcome in just two months. That’s … not an enviable position.

So really, anything short of a sweep by St. Louis will leave the Cardinals in a pretty tough spot. So just go out there and win one, Cubs. How about starting with tonight?

We’re Going Streaking

After winning a five-game series against the Cardinals last week, the Chicago Cubs (55-38) dropped two in a row against the Diamondbacks and almost lost the four-game series at home. But Jon Lester played stopper on Wednesday and the Cubs came back in a big way last night to split the series. They’ve now won six of their last ten games and are a season-high 18-games over .500.

The St. Louis Cardinals (51-51) lost three out of five to the Cubs last weekend, before dropping two of three to the Reds over the week. After that rough stretch, they sit at an even .500, 9.0 games out of first place and 4.5 out of the Wild Card.

Game Times and Broadcasts Info

Friday, July 27th at 7:15 CT on CSN-C, MLBN, 670 The Score

Saturday, July 28th at 3:05 CT on CSN-C, FS1 670 the Score

Sunday, July 29th at 7:05 CT on ESPN, 670 The Score

Chicago Cubs

Probable Pitchers:

Mike Montgomery (3.73 ERA, 4.16 FIP; 1.89 K/BB)

Jose Quintana (3.87 ERA, 4.56 FIP; 1.90 K/BB)

Kyle Hendricks (4.05 ERA, 4.48 FIP; 2.79 K/BB)

Active Depth Chart:

C – Willson Contreras

1B – Anthony Rizzo

2B – Javy Baez/David Bote

3B – Ian Happ/David Bote

SS – Addison Russell

LF – Kyle Schwarber/Ben Zobrist

CF – Albert Almora/Ian Happ

RF – Jason Heyward/Ben Zobrist

Unavailable: Anthony Bass, Justin Hancock, Kris Bryant, Yu Darvish, Drew Smyly, Brandon Morrow

St. Louis Cardinals

Probable Pitchers:

Luke Weaver (4.79 ERA, 4.12 FIP; 2.39 K/BB)

Miles Mikolas (2.82 ERA, 3.22 FIP; 4.05 K/BB)

John Gant (3.44 ERA, 3.96 FIP; 1.70 K/BB)

Active Depth Chart:

C – Yadier Molina

1B – Matt Carpenter

2B – Yairo Munez

3B – Jedd Gyorko

SS – Paul DeJong

LF – Marcell Ozuna

CF – Tommy Pham

RF – Dexter Fowler

Unavailable: Greg Holland (too soon?)

Keep An Eye Out For …

Cubs Pitcher: Jesse Chavez has been next to perfect since joining the Cubs on the 21st (5.0 IP, 1H, 0BB, 7Ks) and that includes 3.0 innings against the Cardinals. Let’s see if he can keep it up this weekend.

Cubs Player: Anthony Rizzo has been on an absolute tear lately – like the REAL kind – slashing .442/.545/.674 (215 wRC+) with identical 16.4% strikeout and walk rates since July 13th. It’s obviously been a pretty small sample (55 PAs), but with Kris Bryant out, now would be the PERFECT time for Rizzo to put this Cubs team on his back.

Cardinals Pitcher: Luke Weaver allowed seven hits and five walks in 4.0 innings during his last start, which was against the Cubs. And he was *lucky* to only give up three earned runs in that start. Hopefully, the Cubs can attack him early again, but this time, come up with more to show for it.

Cardinals Player: Dexter Fowler has slashed an absolutely hilarious and wonderful .265/.350/.500 (128 wRC+) … since the day Mike Matheny was fired. How about that?