The Chicago Cubs completed their first series victory of 2012 when they stole two-of-three games against the St. Louis Cardinals from April 23 through April 25. The Cardinals will try to avenge those losses during a two-game series from May 14 through May 15. While the Cubs have been playing better, they've been plagued with a poor bullpen and a starting pitcher who has essentially been an automatic loss when he pitches (Chris Volstad). The Cardinals have a seven-game lead over the Cubs heading into action on May 13.
All times are central time zone. The probable pitchers are updated as of May 13 on Cubs.mlb.com. The Cubs are represented by the pitchers in italics.
May 14, 6:05 p.m.: Ryan Dempster (0-1, 1.02 ERA) vs. Jake Westbrook (4-2, 1.76 ERA)
Two things have been more certain than an inning of self-destruction from Volstad. Ryan Dempster will get little-to-no run support whenever he pitches and the bullpen will blow any lead that he has once he exits the game. That will hopefully change because it's baffling how a pitcher can be winless with a 1.02 ERA in five starts.
This could be the performance where Dempster's ERA "Regresses to the mean." Current Cardinals hitters are 75-for-248 (.302 batting average) with a .395 on-base percentage (OBP) against Dempster. Skip Schumaker, Yadier Molina and Carlos Beltran have combined to go 39-for-97 (.402 batting average) with 10 walks.
May 15, 12:45 p.m. Paul Maholm (4-2, 4.05 ERA) vs. Kyle Lohse (5-1, 2.08 ERA)
Paul Maholm surrendered six earned runs through four innings in a game against the Cardinals on April 15. Since then, Maholm has surrendered three earned runs in his last 25.1 innings pitched. Maholm should be challenged against an offense that hasn't slowed down since he last pitched against this team.
Current Cardinals hitters are 50-for-175 (.286 batting average) with a .352 OBP against Maholm. Rafael Furcal, Molina and Beltran are all hitting .333-or-better in at least 21 career at-bats against Maholm. Allen Craig has also had some success as he's 4-for-9 (.444 batting average) with two doubles, two RBIs and a home run.
Joshua Huffman grew up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula as a Green Bay Packers and Chicago Cubs enthusiast. He immediately gained an admiration for Cubs fans after watching numerous games on WGN during the mid-90s. His favorite Cubs moment was Kerry Wood's(notes) 1-hitter, 20K extravaganza that was only denied of a no-hitter by Kevin Orie's defensive blunder. As a Packers and Cubs fan, he suffered through Steve Bartman and "4th & 26" in a span of three months. He can be found on Twitter HERE.
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