Cardinals Welcome Cubs to Busch Stadium for Four-Game Test

THE CARDINAL CHRONICLE
Series Preview: Cardinals Welcome Cubs to Busch Stadium for Four-Game Test
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals open a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs tonight at Busch Stadium, beginning another important chapter in baseball’s oldest National League rivalry.

First pitch for each of the first three games is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. CT. Thursday’s series finale begins at 1:15 p.m.

The Cardinals enter the series at 53-52 after losing two of three to the Cincinnati Reds. Chicago arrives at 59-46, sitting second in the National League Central and six games ahead of St. Louis. The Cubs won two of three over the weekend in Pittsburgh, although they let Sunday’s finale slip away in an 8-7 loss.

There is no need to manufacture urgency when these two clubs meet, but the standings provide plenty of it.

The Cardinals are trying to remain in a crowded National League postseason race while the Cubs are attempting to keep pace with Milwaukee and secure their position near the top of the Wild Card standings. Four games between division rivals can change the standings quickly.

This is the beginning of a stretch in which every head-to-head opportunity matters.

The good news for St. Louis is that the Cardinals have played some of their best baseball against Chicago this season.

St. Louis owns a 4-2 advantage in the season series, taking two of three from the Cubs at Busch Stadium in late May and two of three at Wrigley Field earlier this month.

The first series included a 6-5 Cardinals victory in the opener, a 6-1 Cubs win and a 5-1 St. Louis victory in the finale. The Cardinals then opened the July series at Wrigley with a historic 17-1 rout, followed it with a 3-0 shutout and fell short of the sweep when Chicago won the finale 6-4.

Those results should give the Cardinals confidence, but they do not guarantee anything over the next four days.

Chicago remains one of the National League’s strongest offensive clubs. The Cubs are averaging approximately 5.2 runs per game, compared with 4.4 for St. Louis, and hold a substantial advantage in home runs.

Pete Crow-Armstrong has emerged as the driving force behind that lineup. The Cubs center fielder enters the series batting .290 with 23 home runs, combining power, speed and elite defense in center field. He had four hits Saturday in Chicago’s 11-0 victory over Pittsburgh and added an RBI triple Sunday.

The Cubs also bring plenty of established offensive threats.

Seiya Suzuki homered Sunday for his 18th of the season. Dansby Swanson leads Chicago with 61 RBI, while Nico Hoerner remains one of the more difficult outs in the lineup. Carson Kelly, a former Cardinals prospect, adds another familiar face to the rivalry.

The Cardinals must keep the top of Chicago’s lineup from creating immediate pressure. Free passes ahead of Crow-Armstrong, Suzuki and Swanson can turn a manageable inning into a crooked number in a hurry.

St. Louis will counter with a lineup led by Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson.

Walker enters the series with 22 home runs and 77 RBI, while Burleson is batting .289 and continues to provide the Cardinals with one of their most consistent at-bats. Together, they have carried a considerable share of the offensive load.

Burleson collected three more hits in Sunday’s extra-inning loss to Cincinnati, but the Cardinals again struggled to create sustained offense throughout the lineup.

St. Louis has scored four runs or more in only two of its past seven games. The Cardinals are 41-16 when scoring at least four runs this season but only 5-26 when held to two or fewer.

Those numbers are not complicated.

When the offense provides reasonable support, the Cardinals generally win.

The problem has been producing that support consistently.

JJ Wetherholt continues to provide energy near the top of the order. Iván Herrera homered Sunday and remains one of the Cardinals’ better on-base threats. Blaze Jordan has shown that he can handle Major League pitching, while Masyn Winn, Lars Nootbaar and Nathan Church must help extend innings and turn the lineup over.

One productive hitter cannot carry an offense for four games.

The Cardinals need traffic ahead of Walker and Burleson, more extra-base damage and better execution with runners in scoring position. Against a Cubs club capable of scoring quickly, a two-run lead will rarely feel comfortable.

Monday’s series opener is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. CT.

Matthew Liberatore is expected to start for St. Louis. The left-hander enters at 5-7 with a 5.18 ERA. His previous start came Tuesday in Anaheim, where he allowed five runs in the first inning before recovering to complete 5⅓ innings with seven strikeouts.

That outing was a perfect summary of Liberatore’s season.

The talent is obvious. His breaking pitches can miss bats, and his fastball plays when he commands it aggressively. The challenge has been avoiding the one damaging inning that changes the entire game.

Liberatore cannot spend the first inning searching for his delivery against Chicago. The Cubs are too dangerous to be handed an early lead, particularly with the Cardinals still trying to stabilize their late-inning relief options.

Tuesday’s game will also begin at 6:45 p.m. CT and will be available nationally on TBS outside the local market.

Chicago has veteran right-hander Colin Rea scheduled to start. Rea is 7-7 with a 4.85 ERA and 81 strikeouts.

Rea is not an overpowering pitcher, but he understands how to navigate a lineup, change speeds and produce weak contact. The Cardinals cannot allow him to steal early-count outs throughout the evening.

Michael McGreevy would be in line to pitch for St. Louis if the Cardinals maintain their current rotation order.

McGreevy has pitched much better than his record suggests, carrying an ERA near 3.00 despite receiving inconsistent run support. He relies on command, movement and changing eye levels rather than overwhelming velocity.

Wednesday’s matchup begins at 6:45 p.m., with Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd scheduled to start.

Boyd is 6-1 with a 3.81 ERA and has not lost in his last 10 starts. He recently returned from knee surgery and a delayed recovery caused by shoulder soreness, but he has quickly become an important part of a Chicago rotation that has dealt with multiple injuries.

Dustin May would be the expected Cardinals starter on regular rotation.

May showed signs of progress Friday against Cincinnati, allowing only one run over six innings and striking out eight. St. Louis wasted the performance, managing only one hit before the bullpen surrendered the lead.

That outing was encouraging, but May must prove it was more than a one-night correction. Since his complete-game shutout in June, his command and ability to control damage have been inconsistent.

Thursday’s finale is scheduled for 1:15 p.m.

Chicago plans to start Shota Imanaga, who enters at 7-8 with a 3.72 ERA and 113 strikeouts. He has been the Cubs’ most productive strikeout pitcher and recently continued his strong run with another dominant performance against Pittsburgh.

Andre Pallante would line up for St. Louis.

Pallante is coming off one of his finest starts of the season, throwing seven scoreless innings Saturday against Cincinnati while allowing only two hits and striking out eight. The victory gave him 11 wins, the most on the Cardinals staff.

His sinker will be essential against a Cubs lineup that can punish elevated mistakes. When Pallante stays at the bottom of the strike zone and generates early-count ground balls, he can control a game and work deep into the afternoon.

The announced pitching plans remain subject to change, particularly with the trade deadline approaching and the Cardinals recently using Hunter Dobbins as a sixth starter.

The bullpen may ultimately determine the series.

JoJo Romero remains unavailable following appendicitis, and the Cardinals have struggled to establish dependable late-inning roles in his absence. Riley O’Brien has endured several difficult outings, while George Soriano, Luis Gastelum, Ryne Stanek and the rest of the relief group have been asked to cover high-leverage innings without clearly defined assignments.

Oliver Marmol cannot manage four games against the Cubs by waiting for perfect ninth-inning situations.

The most important matchup may come in the sixth or seventh inning when Crow-Armstrong, Suzuki and Swanson are due to hit. The best available reliever should pitch when the game is most likely to be decided, regardless of the inning printed beside his name in the bullpen plan.

The Cardinals are also in the middle of 20 consecutive games without an off day. The Cubs series completes the current eight-game homestand before St. Louis travels to Toronto.

That makes workload management important, but there is a difference between managing fatigue and managing timidly.

These games matter.

The trade deadline is closing in. The Cubs are directly ahead of the Cardinals in the division. The Wild Card field remains crowded, and St. Louis has already lost valuable ground since the All-Star break.

The Cardinals do not need to sweep the Cubs to save their season, but they cannot afford another losing series at home.

A split would maintain the status quo.

Winning three of four would reduce the standings gap, strengthen the Cardinals’ hold on the season series and provide evidence that this club should still be treated as a legitimate postseason contender.

Losing three or four would leave the front office facing a much different conversation as the deadline approaches.

The Cardinals have already proven they can beat Chicago.

They have won close games, delivered a historic offensive rout and shut down the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Now they must show they can reproduce that success during a difficult portion of the schedule.

Four games at Busch Stadium.

A division rival six games ahead.

The trade deadline approaching.

The postseason race tightening.

The Cardinals have spent much of the season insisting they intend to compete while building for the future.

This week, the Cubs provide an opportunity to prove that competing is more than a talking point.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.

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