St. Louis’ fans are used to playoff baseball, but with two straight seasons missing the October cut and a record that has the team just two games over .500, Cardinals’ ownership decided to cut ties with manager, Mike Matheny. Now returning from the All-Star break, St. Louis has a real chance to pull themselves back within striking distance of the division-leading Cubs. They’ll have five games to make hay and they must capitalize to set the tone for the stretch run.
Chicago on the other hand, has picked up right where they left off last year. At 55-38, the Cubs have a 2.5 game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers and 7.5 game lead over the Cardinals. Chicago has shown that old-school baseball still wins games, as they’re second in team batting average (.265), but sit 21st in homeruns (100). They’ll look to employ that tactic this Thursday (7:05 PM ET) and further pad their lead atop the division.
MLB Odds: Cardinals Head to Wrigley in Search of Redemption
In a classic showdown between two of the oldest teams in the MLB, St. Louis will be looking to reverse their recent history and crawl back into the NL Central race. At just two games over .500, St. Louis will have five straight games against the team they’re chasing to get back into contention.
Chicago enters Game 1 with a comfortable 7.5 game lead over the Cardinals. With a number of offensive players having standout seasons thus far, including Albert Almora Jr. who has hit for an incredible .319 average through 86 games, the Cubs are the masters of small ball. They’ll look to outhit and outpitch St. Louis beginning with Thursday’s game (7:05 PM ET).
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