The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals have had a very interesting first eight games of their season series. The home team has won all eight times, and the Cubs will look to make it nine straight on Sunday night. A win on Sunday Night Baseball would be the third three-game sweep in the span of a month in this bitter rivalry.
St. Louis swept the Chicago Cubs a week ago, but they have struggled this weekend. The Cardinals are just 31-31 on the season and sit in third place in the National League Central Division. Chicago has now won five of its last six games since being swept in St. Louis. The Cubs have improved their record to 36-27 and sit atop the NL Central Division. Chicago is -161 over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night.
Hendricks On Mound For Cubs
Right-hander Kyle Hendricks will be on the mound for the Cubs in this game, and that is a scary thing for Cardinals fans. Hendricks threw a complete-game shutout on just 81 pitches against the Cardinals in early May and has been pitching well of late. The veteran brings a 6-4 record into this game to go along with a very good ERA of just 3.16. Chicago usually has a chance to win the game when Hendricks is on the mound.
The Chicago Cubs have an incredibly deep lineup that is full of young talent. Chicago has blasted 101 home runs already this season, which is second in the National League. Javier Baez leads the team with 76 hits and a .304 batting average. Anthony Rizzo has belted 16 homers and driven in 44 runs to lead the team. Chicago scored nine straight runs after falling behind 4-0 on Saturday night and can put up runs in a hurry.
Cardinals Must Find Some Offense
It looked as if the Cardinals were going to score a ton of runs on Saturday night, but then something changed. St. Louis scored four runs in the first inning, but then never managed to hit a ball out of the infield. Leftfielder Marcell Ozuna has been doing his part all season long and leads the team with 17 home runs and 54 runs batted in. The Cardinals are still waiting for Matt Carpenter to get going, but he is hitting just .221 on the season.
Adam Wainwright will be on the mound for the Cardinals on Sunday night, and he is hoping for a repeat performance of his last start. Wainwright went eight shutout innings against the Cubs a week ago, keeping the hitters off balance all day. The 13-year veteran is 5-5 with a 4.34 earned run average this season but is pitching very well. St. Louis is going to need him to cool off the red-hot Cubs bats.
Cubs Complete Another Sweep
These teams might just end up trading sweeps all season long, as that trend will continue on Sunday night. Chicago will have a red-hot pitcher on the mound against a struggling offense. St. Louis just doesn’t appear to have answers for the Cubs’ lineup at Wrigley Field. Bet the Chicago Cubs -161 over the St. Louis Cardinals.
