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Red-hot Cubs face Cardinals Thursday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 8/11/2016  at  11:16:00 AM
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ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (60-54)

at CHICAGO CUBS (71-41)

First pitch: Thursday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: St. Louis +155, Chicago -165, Total: N/A

The Cubs will be going for their 10th straight victory when they host the Cardinals on Thursday.

St. Louis is currently playing for a Wild Card spot in the National League and the team comes into this one after having won two of its past three games. The Cardinals do, however, face a red-hot Cubs team on Thursday and they could use at least a split in this four-game series. Chicago, meanwhile, is running away with the division and has now won nine straight games heading into this one. The one thing that the Cubs are consistently doing well is pitching. They have allowed two or fewer earned runs in seven of the past nine games and if they can continue to shut their opponents down then it’s hard to imagine them struggling at any point over the remainder of the season. On the mound in this game will be LHP Jon Lester (12-4, 2.93 ERA, 133 K) for the Cubs and RHP Carlos Martinez (10-7, 3.29 ERA) for the Cardinals. One trend worth pointing out is that St. Louis is an incredible 13-3 against the money line in road games after one or more consecutive UNDERS this season. The Cubs, however, are 20-1 against the money line on a good fielding streak where they go 15 straight games with one or fewer errors over the past two seasons.

The Cardinals are trying to find their way back into the postseason and they can use a big performance from Carlos Martinez on Thursday. The righty is coming off of a dreadful outing against the Braves on Aug. 6, allowing six earned runs on seven hits in just five innings of work. He walked two batters in that game and allowed two homers, so he’ll need to be better with his pitch location against the Cubs. He did, however, allow six earned runs in five innings the last time he faced Chicago as well. With Martinez not pitching to his fullest capabilities, the Cardinals are going to need plenty of run support in this one. The guys that just might be able to provide that are OF Matt Holliday (.241, 19 HR, 60 RBI) and 3B Jhonny Peralta (.246, 6 HR, 17 RBI). Both guys are not the same hitters they used to be, but they are a combined 15-for-49 with three homers and nine RBI against Lester in their careers. If they can provide something at the plate in this game then the Cardinals might be able to steal this one.

Jon Lester has had a very good season for the Cubs and he is coming off of two very good starts for the team, allowing just two earned runs in his past 13.0 innings of work. Lester has also struck out at least seven batters in each of his past three starts. He’ll be hoping to keep missing bats at a high rate in this one. He will, however, need to avoid walks in this game. Lester didn’t walk any batters against the Athletics on Aug. 5, but he has walked three or more batters in five of his past nine starts. That is not a good number and he’ll need his control in this one. Offensively, two guys to watch out for are 1B Anthony Rizzo (.288, 24 HR, 81 RBI) and 3B Kris Bryant (.284, 28 HR, 70 RBI). Both guys are playing very well for Chicago, as Rizzo is on a six-game hitting streak coming into this one and Bryant has homered in two of the past three games. They’re two very dangerous hitters and will be hoping to drive in some runs in this one.


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