First pitch: Sunday, 8:35 p.m. ET
Line: N/A, Total: N/A

Chicago’s quest to repeat as World Series champs begins with the first game of a three-game set in St. Louis on Sunday.

The Cubs are fresh off of their first World Series victory in 108 years, and they open up their season with a matchup with the rival Cardinals this weekend. Chicago is mostly bringing back the same team that won the championship last year, but the team did lose both OF Dexter Fowler (.276, 13 HR, 48 RBI in 2016) and LHP Aroldis Chapman (1.01 ERA, 16 SV in 2016). The Cubs will use an in-house replacement for Fowler this season, but they brought in former Royal RHP Wade Davis (1.87 ERA, 27 SV in 2016) to fill the spot at closer. The Cardinals are also bringing back a large majority of their lineup, but they actually signed Fowler away from the Cubs. That will make for an interesting dynamic on Sunday, but there isn’t expected to be any bad blood between Fowler and his former team. The starters in this game are set to be LHP Jon Lester (19-5, 2.44 ERA, 197 K in 2016) for the Cubs and RHP Carlos Martinez (16-9, 3.04 ERA, 174 K in 2016) for the Cardinals. Last season, Chicago was 10-9 in 19 meetings with St. Louis and 10 of those games went Under the total. Both teams are going to be close to full strength, so injuries likely won’t factor into the outcome of this one.

Last year, Jon Lester absolutely dominated the Cardinals in three starts against the team. Lester pitched a total of 20.2 innings in those games, and he had a 2-0 record with a 0.87 ERA. He averaged 7.0 strikeouts per game in those three meetings with St. Louis, and he’ll be hoping to get his team off to a 1-0 start on Sunday. Offensively, this Chicago team is as explosive as any team in baseball and there are a few guys that should be more than capable of giving Carlos Martinez trouble on Sunday. Three of those players would be 1B Anthony Rizzo (.292 BA, 32 HR, 109 RBI in 2016), 2B Ben Zobrist (.272 BA, 18 HR, 76 RBI in 2016) and OF Jason Heyward (.230 BA, 7 HR, 49 RBI in 2016). Rizzo is 7-for-26 with three homers and seven RBI against Martinez in his career, and he is coming off of a career year in 2016. Look for him to do his best to get his season off to a good start on Sunday. Zobrist and Heyward, meanwhile, are a combined 12-for-30 with two doubles and three RBI against Martinez. Zobrist is working his way back from a neck injury, but he should be fine on Sunday. Heyward, meanwhile, is coming off of the worst season of his life, and he’ll be hoping to turn things around in 2017. A matchup with a pitcher he has done well against in his career should give him some early confidence.

The Cardinals struggled to hit Jon Lester last season, but there are a lot of quality bats in this lineup that should be able to figure him out on Sunday. One guy that does have some personal success against the lefty is C Yadier Molina (.307 BA, 8 HR, 58 RBI in 2016). In his career versus Lester, Molina is 8-for-22 with three doubles and four RBI. He’ll be looking to get right back to those successful ways on Sunday. Two other guys to watch out for in the lineup are SS Aledmys Diaz (.300 BA, 17 HR, 65 RBI in 2016) and OF Stephen Piscotty (.273 BA, 22 HR, 85 RBI in 2016). Both are expected to make huge jumps in 2017, and they’d love to help the Cardinals earn a big win over their rivals on Sunday. The team will, however, need Carlos Martinez to pitch well in order to earn a victory in this one. He struggled against Chicago last season, going just 1-3 with a 4.80 ERA in five starts against the team.