The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals will begin their third series of the season tonight when they face each other at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The Cubs are certainly the hotter team entering this evening's game, but the Cardinals took two out of three from Chicago earlier this year at Busch. Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals at Bodog.com have Chicago listed as a -120 money line favorite in tonight's 8:15 pm ET game.
St. Louis is sporting a 21-17 record, but the reality of their current situation is far more grim. The Cardinals have lost seven of their last nine games and were just swept by the Brewers in St. Louis. An 8-4 loss yesterday capped off the miserable series with Milwaukee as Tony LaRussa's team averaged just two runs per game in the three game set.
St. Louis, who is in third place in the NL Central and three games behind Milwaukee, will look to Joel Pineiro to help them get things back on track tonight. Pineiro has been up and down this season and has struggled of late. The Cardinals are 0-3 in his last three starts, including his last outing, a 2-5 loss at Pittsburgh where the Puerto Rican native gave up 11 hits and five earned runs in six innings.
Chicago has been surging recently but not quite enough to jump ahead of the smoldering Brewers. The Cubs have won seven of their last 10 contests and are now 21-15 on the year (two games back of Milwaukee).
The Cubs lost their game 5-6 to the Astros at Wrigley Field, despite getting 11 hits and two home runs, to earn a split with Houston.
Lou Piniella will counter Pineiro with left hander Ted Lilly. The 33 year old is having a wonderful season, sitting at 5-2 after seven starts with a 3.27 ERA. He has also been outstanding against the Cardinals in recent years, sporting an identical 5-2 record with a 3.29 ERA. Lilly is 3-0 in his last five appearances at Busch; he has yielded just 28 hits and nine earned runs in 34 innings of work there.
Bodog.com Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Predictions:
Chicago Cubs -1.5 (+125), Over 9 (-105), -120 (Moneyline)
St. Louis Cardinals +1.5 (-145), Under 9 (-115), +110 (Moneyline)
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