St. Louis Cardinals (32-30, third in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (35-27, first in the NL Central)
Chicago; Friday, 2:20 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Johan Oviedo (0-2, 5.25 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 20 strikeouts) Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (7-4, 4.59 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 56 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: St. Louis heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Adam Wainwright. Wainwright went seven innings, giving up two runs on three hits with six strikeouts against Cleveland.
The Cubs are 16-14 against the rest of their division. Chicago has hit 82 home runs this season, sixth in the majors. Javier Baez leads the club with 14, averaging one every 14.6 at-bats.
The Cardinals are 13-11 in division games. The St. Louis offense has compiled a .232 batting average as a team this season, Tyler O’Neill leads the team with a mark of .291.
The Cubs won the last meeting 2-1. Craig Kimbrel secured his first victory and Baez went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for Chicago. Alex Reyes registered his first loss for St. Louis.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kris Bryant leads the Cubs with 30 extra base hits and is slugging .575.
Nolan Arenado leads the Cardinals with 32 extra base hits and 40 RBIs.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 6-4, .209 batting average, 3.77 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs
Cardinals: 2-8, .233 batting average, 6.83 ERA, outscored by 33 runs
INJURIES: Cubs: Trevor Williams: (appendix), Rowan Wick: (oblique), Justin Steele: (hamstring), Jonathan Holder: (shoulder), Adbert Alzolay: (finger), Nico Hoerner: (hamstring), Matt Duffy: (back), David Bote: (shoulder), Javier Baez: (thumb), Austin Romine: (left wrist).
Cardinals: Kodi Whitley: (undisclosed), Miles Mikolas: (forearm), Kwang Hyun Kim: (back), Dakota Hudson: (right elbow), Jordan Hicks: (elbow), Jack Flaherty: (side), Justin Williams: (neck), Harrison Bader: (rib), Max Moroff: (shoulder).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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