A pair of longtime rivals collide for a three-game weekend series starting on Friday night as the St. Louis Cardinals host the Chicago Cubs. At home, the Cardinals are listed as favorites with a moneyline of -160 compared to Chicago’s moneyline of +135. The over/under for the game is set at nine runs.
The Cardinals head home this weekend after winning just three of their last eight games. However, they recently had a tough road trip against the Red Sox and Brewers, splitting a four-game series in Milwaukee earlier this week. That means St. Louis remains in a tie with Milwaukee at the top of the NL Central standings.
On the other side, the Cubs are in the midst of a truly disastrous month of June. Chicago endured a 10-game losing streak earlier this month and just lost three of four games against the Pirates. The Cubs have just three wins in their last 17 games, dropping them 18 games under .500 and 13 games back in the NL Central.
Not the Same Guy
The Cubs will have Kyle Hendricks on the mound for Friday’s series opener. In past years, that would be good news, but not this year, with Hendricks going 2-6 with a 5.43 ERA over his first 13 starts of 2022. Things are getting even worse for Hendricks, who has a 6.28 ERA over his three starts in June, with the Cubs winning just one of his last five starts.
The silver lining is the Chicago lineup has started to catch fire in recent days. After scoring nine total runs over a five-game stretch, the Cubs have scored 21 total runs over their last two games. But while Ian Happ and Patrick Wisdom have heated up lately, Willson Contreras, who has been Chicago’s best hitter this year, has hit a slump, batting just .179 over his last seven games.
Andre the Giant
Rookie Andre Pallante will make his fourth career start for the Cardinals on Friday. The 23-year-old has gone 2-2 with a 1.69 ERA over three starts and 18 relief appearances this season. In his three starts since moving into the rotation, Pallante has allowed just three runs on 12 hits over 15 innings of work, so he’s not yet going deep into games but has posted a 1.80 ERA as a starter.
Meanwhile, the St. Louis lineup remains steady and consistent, scoring at least four runs in eight of the team’s last nine games. Paul Goldschmidt is undoubtedly an MVP candidate, batting .340 with an OPS of 1.048 on the season. At the same time, Nolan Arenado and Nolan Gorman are both red-hot at the moment, as each is batting over .300 with three home runs each over the last seven games.
The Red Birds Fly
While Pallante is still a largely unproven commodity, he looks capable of keeping the Cubs under wraps for a few innings. Meanwhile, Hendricks doesn’t look particularly reliable right now, especially with so many dangerous hitters in the St. Louis lineup. Bet on the Cardinals to take advantage of Chicago’s struggles and win the series opener on Friday.
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