First pitch: Friday, 6:45 p.m. ET
NL Division Series – Game 1
I wLine: Chicago +100, St. Louis -110, Total: 6.5

The Cardinals’ quest to repeat as world champions begins with a Game 1 matchup with the Cubs in St. Louis on Friday.

The young Cubs have been on fire lately, winning their past nine contests coming into this one. Their most recent victory was the most important of the bunch, though. Chicago faced Pittsburgh in the NL wildcard game and was able to come away with a 4-0 road victory to earn itself a spot in this series. The Cardinals, meanwhile, struggled towards the end of the regular season and will need to get back to their dominant selves in the postseason. St. Louis lost four of its past five games to end the year and that is not the way that a team with such a winning culture would have liked to enter the playoffs. The Cardinals were, however, 11-8 overall and 7-3 at home when playing against the Cubs this season. The starters in this game are going to be LHP Jon Lester (11-12, 3.34 ERA, 207 K) for Chicago and RHP John Lackey (13-10, 2.77 ERA, 175 K) for St. Louis. The Cubs are 28-12 against the money line this season after batting .240 or worse over a 10 game span. That is quite the feat for Chicago, but it is not as impressive as St. Louis’ 25-7 record against the money line when coming off of a loss by two runs or less on the year. The Cubs will not be dealing with any significant injuries in this series, and C Yadier Molina (Thumb) is set to return for the Cardinals in Game 1.

Lester is taking the ball in Game 1 for the Cubs and he ended the year on a high note for the team, allowing two or less earned runs in five of his final six starts. Two of those starts came against St. Louis, with Lester picking up losses in both starts. He allowed four earned runs in six innings in Chicago on Sep. 20, but he pitched brilliantly with one earned run allowed in seven innings against the Cardinals in St. Louis on Sep. 9. He allowed just one earned run in his only other start at Busch Stadium earlier in the year on May 6. One interesting thing worth noting offensively is that none of the Cubs players have homered off of Lackey in their careers. 1B Anthony Rizzo (.278, 31 HR, 101 RBI) and 3B Kris Bryant (.275, 26 HR, 99 RBI) are a combined 3-for-21 with one RBI against the pitcher and the two of them will need to figure him out in this one.

Lackey has been around the block and will not be struggling with any nerves when he takes the mound on Friday. He is a proven veteran and is pitching against a team that he owned in the regular season. In three starts against the Cubs this year, Lackey pitched a total of 21.2 innings and allowed just three earned runs over those outings. He will be looking forward to this matchup and will strictly be trying to carry over that success into this one. Offensively, the Cardinals will need some guys to really rise to the occasion. OF Matt Holiday (.279, 4 HR, 35 RBI) is going to have to be better in the postseason than he was during the regular season. He is one of this team’s best hitters and has plenty of playoff experience. OF Jason Heyward (.293, 13 HR, 60 RBI) will also be trying to show what he’s got to these St. Louis fans. He had a solid regular season, but championships are the only things that matter to the Cardinals faithful.