The St. Louis Cardinals are hosting the Chicago Cubs tonight in Game 1 of the National League Division Series. The game is scheduled for a 6:45 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on TBS. Currently the betting odds for the game have the Cardinals favored at home by a slim margin.
Chicago got another amazing start from Jake Arrieta to win the Wild Card game, now they need Jon Lester to come up big with a start of his own. Lester was brought in during the off-season to pitch in games like these, he faces off against John Lackey tonight.
Lester was just 1-3 against the Cardinals this season in five starts, though he did throw a 2.59 ERA in those starts, giving up 25 hits over 31 1/3 innings. Lester actually pitched well on the road as well this season, posting an ERA of 2.93 over 12 starts. Winning on the road is never easy, but Lester is going to bring his bulldog mentality tonight to give Chicago a chance.
Lackey was very good at home this season, sporting a record of 9-4 over 17 starts. His 1.93 ERA was solid over 121 1/3 innings and current Cubs hit .281 against him in 121 plate appearances. Nobody has homered off him, but there are some guys that have some decent numbers.
This should be another close, low-scoring game between the Cubs and Cardinals. These post season games should continue to be excellent and Lackey taking on Lester will be another low-offense battle with every inning being important.
St. Louis gets the win in this one, they've been very tough to beat at home this season.
Free Pick: Cardinals
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