Cubs vs. Cardinals Pick
Are the host St. Louis Cardinals going to post an important victory Monday night when they play the Chicago Cubs? First pitch is 8:15PM EST.
Oddsmakers at Bovada.lv have made the Cardinals a -138 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Cubs are a +118 underdog and the over-under is 8.5.
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Pitching for the Cubs will be Jon Lester (11-8, 4.56 ERA), while the Cardinals counter with Luke Weaver (7-1, 2.05). Lester holds a 1.34 WHIP with 169 strikeouts in 169 2/3 innings. He allowed seven earned runs on eight hits with no strikeouts and three walks over 4 1/3 innings in an 8-1 loss at the Rays his last start. Lester has a 4.64 ERA in 75 2/3 road innings. Weaver holds a 1.03 WHIP with 65 strikeouts over 52 2/3 innings. He gave up two earned runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and no walks over five innings in a 9-2 win at the Reds his last start. St. Louis has won his last eight outings and he has a 1.35 home ERA in 26 2/3 innings.
Chicago has an 87-68 record and is 41-36 on the road, while the Cardinals are 81-74 and 42-32 at home. The Cubs have won eight of the last 10 meetings including the last five games. The over-under is 3-6-1 in those games.
On Sunday, Chicago won its third game in four days at the Brewers with a 5-0 victory. Jose Quintana pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing three hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts. Jon Jay was 2-for-4 and scored two runs. Kris Bryant was 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk. Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run double. Willson Contrera finished 2-for-4 with a run. Ben Zobrist went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. The Cardinals lost two out of three games at the Pirates including a 4-1 defeat Sunday afternoon. Matt Carpenter hit a solo home ron to account for the offense. Seung-Hwan Oh took the loss in relief.
Weaver has been phenomenal in the St. Louis rotation, while Lester has floundered as of late in the worst season of his MLB career. The Cardinals are back home and in desperate need of a win, sitting 2.5 games back in the race for the second NL Wild Card spot. Take the home team here.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS -138