Saturday night baseball and we will see the Chicago Cubs take on the St Louis Cardinals in game 2 of their 3 game series from St Louis. The game is scheduled for a 7:15 (ET) pm start time and it will be televised live locally. Currently the odds have St Louis favored at -136, while Chicago is dogs of +128. The total for the game sits at 8 runs.
Free Analysis: Chicago has won six of eight games and is 14-6 over its last 20 contests. However, the series-opening defeat continues a recent pattern of ineptitude in St. Louis. The Cubs are just 4-11 in their last 15 games at Busch Stadium and they have one of the worst road records in all of baseball at 14-33. Matt Garza gets the Ball for Chicago tonight as he looks to get the Cubs back on the winning track. Garza has been the subject of trade rumors, although his numbers may give him reason to hope he stays in Chicago. The right-hander has a 2.12 ERA at Wrigley Field, but is 2-6 with a 5.67 ERA in 10 starts on the road. Garza took a no-decision against St. Louis on April 23 despite allowing just two runs and four hits in seven innings. He is 2-1 with a 4.66 ERA in five career starts against the Cardinals, but 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA in 2 career starts here. The St. Louis Cardinals have struggled to score runs of late but at least have the momentum of a victory entering Saturday’s game against the visiting Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals ended Ryan Dempster’s 33-inning scoreless streak in a 4-1 victory in the series opener for just their second win in seven games since the All-Star break. The Cardinals counter with Jake Westbrook (7-8, 3.82), who'll be making his third start in the season series. The righty gave up two runs and four hits over seven innings in a 10-3 win April 15, but wasn't quite as sharp 29 days later, permitting four runs and a season-high 12 hits in five innings of St. Louis' 6-4 loss. He has a 4-2 record and 4.89 ERA in seven career starts against the Cubs. Yadier Molina is batting .333 with 11 RBIs in nine games against Chicago this season, while Skip Schumaker is 6-for-11 against Garza and is batting .444 (12-for-27) since July 4. OF Jon Jay (shoulder) was held out of the series opener and is just 2-for-20 since the All-Star break. Alfonso Soriano is 3 for 27 lifetime against Westbrook and after hitting a double Friday he is hitting .370 with three homers, three doubles and six RBIs since the break.
Free Pick: Really like the Cards here. Matt Garza has always been a better pitcher at home than on the road and this year is no exception. Matt is 3-1 with a 2.12 ERA, while on the road he has gone 2-6 with a 5.67 ERA. Even in this series we find the same kind of stats. Matt has gone 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA in 3 starts at Wrigley, but in 2 career starts here he is 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA. The Cubs as a team have struggled on the road this year going 14-33, compared to 24-21 at home. St Louis had a tough road trip, but they got back on track last night. Their offense has been struggling, but should have some confidence here after breaking Dempster's 33 inning scoreless streak by getting 4 ER's on 7 hits in 6 innings. At home the Cards have hit .277 and have scored 4.9 rpg, while the Cubs hit just .247 and have scored just 3.6 rpg on the road. Jake Westbrook has been pitching pretty good of late as he is 3-3 with a 3.26 ERA in his last 7 starts, while at home he is 4-3 with a 4.23 ERA. St Louis is looking to keep pace with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati so dropping a home game to one of the worst road teams in baseball is not an option here.
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