St Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs Preview & Picks
Chicago are tipped to open this series with St Louis with a win.
The Cubs have been in poor form in recent times, but they have a big edge at starting pitcher with Shota Imanaga getting the nod.
- Chicago pitcher Shota Imanaga is 8-2 with a 2.95 ERA this season
- St Louis starter Sonny Gray has allowed 5 earned runs in 3 of his last 4 starts
- The Under has cashed in each of Chicago's last 9 home games
- The Under hit in the 3 previous meetings in Chicago this season
Head To Head
- St Louis Cardinals lead the regular season series 6-3
- Chicago Cubs won 8-3 when the two teams last met on July 14
St Louis Cardinals Form
St Louis come into this game on the back of a blowout win, but that was only their fourth victory in the last nine games.
The Cardinals went into the All-Star break on the back of an 8-3 defeat to the Chicago Cubs, and they returned to action with a 3-2 defeat in Atlanta.
They won the next two meetings with the Braves through, 9-5 and 6-2, before moving on to Pittsburgh where they sandwiched a 2-1 victory over the Pirates with 2-1 and 5-0 defeats.
St Louis returned home after that and suffered 10-8 and 14-3 defeats to Washington, but avoided being swept as they won the series finale 4-3.
The Cardinals failed to back that up as they lost the season opener to Texas, 6-3, only to bounce back and take the next two meetings, 6-3 and 10-1.
Chicago Cubs Form
Chicago come into this series on the back of a heavy win, but they have blown hot and cold since the All-Star break.
The Cubs entered the mid-season pause on the back of a victory, and in positive form having won eight of their previous 11 games.
They lost their first two games back, 6-2 and 3-0 to Arizona, before rebounding to beat the Diamondbacks 2-1 and down Milwaukee 3-1.
Chicago were unable to build on that though, as they lost the next two games against the Brewers, 1-0 and 3-2, and those defeats were followed by a 6-0 loss in Kansas City.
The Cubs rebounded to take the next two games, 9-4 and 7-3, only to then head to Cincinnati and lose 7-1 and 6-3 to the Reds before taking the final game 13-4.