Sunday will be plenty busy on the NBA side of things. But outside the world of hoops and hardwood will be an 8:05 p.m. ET game of hardball between St. Louis and the Chicago Cubs. ESPN will carry the usual coverage of Sunday Night Baseball.
Right off the bat, the Cardinals have had their problems in Chicago. An 8-18 record in the last 26 meetings for St. Louis in the Windy City has given way to a .255 BA dating back to 2004. During the same time frame, the pitching staff hasn’t faired much better, recording a 4.96 ERA with a 1.47 WHIP.
In Game 1 of this four-game set, the Cardinals were able to show poise in Wrigley Field. Taking the contest 7-4 as a slight, $1.02 underdog, St. Louis found success at the plate. Led by Chris Duncan’s three hits, three RBIs and a homer sprinkled in, the Cards were able to manufacture a total of 12 hits and four base on balls. Even after leaving a total of eight men on base, St. Louis was able to stop the bleeding on the mound as Adam Wainwright picked up his second win of the season.
The Cubbies opened up their first 10 games by tacking on an average of 5.1 runs per game. But not all is fun in the sun as pitching has been shaky by giving up an average of 4.4 runs per game.
Chicago is hoping to repeat the success that the pitching game enjoyed at home in 2008. Posting a 55-26 home record, Cubs’ arms in both the rotation and pen combined for a 3.77 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 8.2 Ks per nine innings did the club justice.
Taking the hill for Chicago will be 10-year veteran slinger, Ted Lilly. His 2-0 record, 3.86 ERA and 0.94 WHIP have equated to teams struggling to post a damaging .209 BA. Lilly, who’s been susceptible to giving up the long ball throughout his career, has been supplied with 11.6 runs per game of support.
Lilly has been highly successful in his career against St. Louis. He’s posted a 6-2 record with a 2.99 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP in 11 total starts. Inside Wrigley, Lilly is a career, 17-10 with a 4.01 ERA in 35 starts. In his last start against the Cardinals (winning, 5-4), the southpaw pitcher went seven innings deep, giving up four runs on six hits.
The Cubs are a sizzling 22-8 in Lilly’s last 30 starts and continue to light make trips to the counter with a 56-27 record in their last 83 home games.
On the topic of left-handed pitching, St. Louis had mixed results in 2008, building up a .269 BA. A .343 on base percentage (ninth best in the league) gave way to 216 runs (14th ranked) on the season. So far this season, St. Louis has pegged the ball of southpaws for 24 runs off 46 hits in 180 total at bats.
The Cardinals will counter Lilly when it places the ball in the hands of right-hander Todd Wellemeyer. His 1-1 record and 4.50 ERA have been a result of giving up five runs and 12 hits in only five innings pitched during the 7-4 loss against Pittsburgh. Wellemeyer’s second outing was much improved in a victory against Arizona. The 30-year-old was stingy, allowing just one run on seven hits. Wellemeyer is coming off a 13-9 season in ’08. His career record at 23-20 was predominantly crafted in bullpen sessions until finally moving to the rotation in St. Louis during the 2007 campaign.
Turning back the pages to 2008 had the Cubs taking the annual head-to-head meetings after producing a 9-6 record in a total of 15 games. The ‘under’ was 9-5-1 during the same stretch.
The latest lines have the Cardinals opening up as a $1.15 visiting underdog.
Joshua Jacobs can be reached at jacobs@vegasinsider.com.
