Cardinals (56-35) vs Cubs (41-50)
St. Louis took the opener of the series on Friday afternoon behind swing starter Joe Kelly. It was a tight game, 3-2, and it looks like Cardinals have found their way again heading into the break.
Saturday July 13
Wrigley Field – Chicago, IL
7:15PM
Probable Starters:
STL: Lance Lynn (R)
CHC: Matt Garza (R)
Moneyline: St. Louis -130, Chicago +120
O/U: No line currently listed
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St. Louis
The Killer Cs did the damage – 2B Matt Carpenter at the top of the lineup, OF Carlos Beltran in the three hole and OF Allan Craig. All three are batting better than .310, in fact the Cardinals had five .300 hitters in their lineup yesterday.
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Their lineup is about as deep as it gets in the National League, even if guys like Carpenter and 1B Matt Adams are unfamiliar to you.
Starter Lance Lynn is not being talked about much with the performances of Shelby Miller and Adam Wainwright but he is following up his tremendous rookie season with an even better one in 2013.
He has a better ERA, WHIP and BAA and with 11 wins already it looks like he will surpass last year’s total of 18. Most importantly, this weekend he will will look to improve on his already impressive numbers against the Cubs.
He is 5-1 against Chicago with an ERA of just 2.52. Cubbies are hitting just .202 against him. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Chicago
The Cubs are likely to trade away a few more pieces of their current team – see below. It’s funny because this team does not play nearly as badly as you think. In fact, they have a run differential better than the Washington Nationals who are two games over .500. Their biggest problem in their bullpen, which is a weakness a team like St. Louis was built to exploit.
They may not be able to maintain this with some of the moves they have made and may make but this team is 5th in the Majors in quality starts. Its funny because you don’t think of them as being blessed with great starting pitching.
With rumours swirling about trades this could easily be the last start Matt Garza makes in a Cubs uniform.
The reason the rumours are so strong is that Garza is having another fine season and would be a great addition to almost any club. He looks healthy and strong as evidenced by his 5-1 record and very good peripherals.
He is also on a nice run with victories in his last 4 starts, all games in which he pitched 7 or more innings while giving up just 1ER. This will be his first start against the Cardinals this season – his numbers against them are just average: 2-1 with a 4.22 ERA.
This is a great value opportunity with Garza pitching at home. He has been dealing as well as anybody else over the last month and if they can scratch just a little bit of offense for him they can win.
The Cubbies are looking to showcase him as much as possible so they probably won’t look to the pen unless absolutely necessary.
O/U Pick:
Score Prediction: Chicago 4 – St. Louis 3
