Things haven’t gone as well as the Chicago Cubs would have hoped during the opening months of their World Series title defense, but clinching a series win against the rival St. Louis Cardinals would be a step in the right direction. The Cubs aim for a second consecutive victory over the visiting Cardinals when the National League Central foes continue their three-game series Saturday.
The Cubs snapped a season-high six-game losing streak with a 3-2 win in Friday’s opener, as former Cardinals outfielder Jason Heyward knocked in the tying and winning runs. Chicago has faced a recent offensive outage, totaling just nine runs during the six-game skid before eking out a win despite just five hits Friday. "We haven't been playing badly, we just have not been hitting," Cubs manager Joe Maddon told reporters. "You can't say we killed it (Friday) on offense, we just pitched well enough.” The Cardinals have been in the same situation recently – they haven’t scored more than four runs in any of their last nine games and have allowed just one run in their three wins during that stretch.
TV: 2:20 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), WGN (Chicago)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Mike Leake (5-3, 2.24 ERA) vs. Cubs LH Jon Lester (3-3, 3.86)
Leake recorded quality starts in his first nine outings of the season before giving up four runs over seven innings in a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday. The 29-year-old gave up two homers in that outing and surrendered six in five May starts after not allowing a single long ball in five April outings. Leake is 9-6 with a 3.50 ERA in 24 starts against the Cubs, including a tough-luck loss on May 12 in which he gave up two runs in six innings.
Lester is coming off his worst outing of the season after giving up six runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings in a loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. The clunker came on the heels of the 33-year-old’s best start of the year, as he struck out 10 and held San Francisco to one run and four hits in a complete game just five days earlier. Lester is 3-4 with a 2.19 ERA in 11 starts against the Cardinals, including a loss and a no-decision this season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cubs pitchers have allowed 14 first-inning home runs – tied for the most in the majors – including an MLB-high five leadoff blasts.
2. Cardinals OF Magneuris Sierra is 12-for-32 during an eight-game hitting streak to begin his major-league career, the longest career-opening hitting streak by a St. Louis player since Homer Smoot in 1902.
3. Heyward is 5-for-15 with three RBIs against the Cardinals this season and is batting a team-best .293 with runners in scoring position.