Cubs at Cardinals
The Chicago Cubs picked the wrong time for an offensive outage – right in the middle of a six-game road trip against their top two division rivals. The Cubs will try to put their recent hitting woes behind them when they open a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
Chicago took over first place in the National League Central when it won the opener of a three-game set at Milwaukee on Monday but failed to score a run over the final two contests. Kris Bryant is homerless in 103 at-bats over his last 24 games, the longest drought of his career. The Cardinals haven’t done much with the bats lately, either, as they lost the final two games of their series against visiting San Diego by 4-2 scores. St. Louis has won four of its five meetings with the Cubs this season.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, MLB Network, ABC 7 (Chicago), FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cubs LH Jon Lester (7-2, 2.22 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Michael Wacha (8-1, 2.47)
Lester has won three straight starts and five of his last six. The 34-year-old has allowed only three hits over 14 scoreless innings in his last two outings and has given up more than one run only once in his last six turns. Lester is 6-4 with a 2.22 ERA in 16 career starts against the Cardinals, going 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in two meetings this season.
Wacha has regained the All-Star form he showed in 2015, allowing fewer than three runs in 10 straight starts. The 26-year-old has won his last three outings and hasn’t suffered a loss since his season debut versus the New York Mets on March 31. Wacha didn’t receive a decision when he faced the Cubs on May 6 and has struggled to a 4-7 record and 6.12 ERA in 17 games (15 starts) against them over his career.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cardinals CF Tommy Pham is riding an eight-game hitting streak but is batting just .294 without an RBI over that stretch.
2. Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo is 18-for-40 with three homers versus Wacha.
3. St. Louis LF Marcell Ozuna has gone 10-for-27 with three blasts during his seven-game hitting streak.