Cubs vs. Cardinals – Top Picks for Saturday Night

When you think of rivalries in Major League Baseball a few come to mind. There’s nothing better than the Yankees and Red Sox, and of course the Dodgers-Giants confrontations carried over from New York to the West Coast. Unless you’re a baseball fan from the Midwest you probably don’t understand how bitter the rivalry is between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals making it one of the nastiest in the sport. The NL Central foes hook up in a nationally televised FOX game on Saturday, August 9 from Busch Stadium in St. Louis. First pitch is slated for 7:15 p.m. ET. Both teams are trying to keep pace with the scorching hot Milwaukee Brewers, who have claimed the best record in baseball.

Cubs vs. Cardinals Game Preview

It’s not like the Cubs have played poorly to lose their grip on first place in the NL Central. Rather the Brewers have just been insanely hot for about a month. Milwaukee will cool off eventually giving Chicago a chance to get back in the hunt for a division title. However, they can’t fall too far behind and they were on the verge of doing that losing three of four before knocking off Cincinnati on Wednesday. The Cubs boast one of the best offensive teams in MLB allowing them to win nearly 58 percent of their games. They are second in runs scored per game and fourth in home runs. However, when they fail to hit big flies the offense can become stagnant. Nico Hoerner is the only regular in the lineup with a batting average above .272. With Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki and Michael Busch all having more than 20 homers the Cubs can score quickly. They’ve cashed the OVER in more than 53 percent of their games.

The Cardinals are in an unfamiliar spot fading from the playoff race. Should they fail to play beyond the regular season the club will match its longest playoff drought since the mid-1990s. It may have seemed like the Cards waved the white flag at the trade deadline dealing pitchers Ryan Helsley, Steven Matz and Phil Maton. Disturbing moves since pitching has been a weak link this season. Clearing cap room for the future is a sign that the Cards are looking ahead. While the staff was depleted through trades the lineup suffered a blow when Nolan Arenado was put on the IL. The Cards were in the division race up until the All-Star break, but going 6-12 since has diminished their chances for a wild card. They entered play on Wednesday six games behind the Mets for the third wild card spot.

Cubs vs. Cardinals Predictions

You can throw the stats and records out the window when these rivals get together. But, if we did that there’d be nothing to talk about. The Cubs have been consistent, not losing more than two games in a row since the middle of June. They’ve also been unable to string a bunch of wins together in order to keep pace with Milwaukee. Their loss to Cincinnati on Tuesday dropped the Cubs a season-high four games off the pace. We know when looking at sports betting history that there’s plenty of baseball to be played and the Brewers can’t continue to win 85 percent of their games. As long as the Cubs stay the course they’ll be right there. But beating teams that are slumping is a must. Chicago padded its offensive stats against the Cards scoring 39 runs in winning four of the last five meetings and facing a diminished pitching staff we could see more of the same.

Cubs vs. Cardinals Betting Tips

The Cubs ended a 2-game losing streak with a 6-1 win over Cincinnati on Wednesday behind a strong outing from Cade Horton. Pitching has been surprisingly good with the emergence of Horton, Matthew Boyd and closer Daniel Palencia. As a result the Cubs have cashed the UNDER five times with a push on the MLB odds in their last six outings. Being average won’t get you to the playoffs and the Cards have been average this year. Following Tuesday’s 12-6 loss to the Dodgers, they are a game below .500 and 58-57 against the run line. Typically boasting a strong staff, the Cards have suffered on the bump, which is why the deadline deals are so alarming. They rank 21st in team ERA with a 1.30 WHIP. And the Cards have the fifth-best OVER percentage in MLB.

Cubs vs. Cardinals Head-to-Head and Key Stats

The season series is close with the Cubs winning four of the first seven games. However, all those wins came after the Cards won the first two contests. We’ve seen plenty of offense with the winning team scoring at least eight runs in six of the seven matchups with the OVER going 5-2. In three of their last four victories the Cubs pitched a shutout. With the Cards folding and the Cubs in the thick of a division race backing the northsiders looks like the right play.