The Chicago Cubs will host the St. Louis Cardinals just one week after they were swept at Busch Stadium. The series is from July 27 through July 29, 2012. The Cubs' probable pitchers are Travis Wood, Jeff Samardzija and Paul Maholm. The Cardinals' probable pitchers are Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly and Adam Wainwright.
The Cubs have a 4-7 record against the Cardinals in 2012. The Cubs have a 24-21 home record. The Cardinals have a 24-25 road record. The Cardinals (53-46) trail the Cincinnati Reds by 5.5 games for the National League Central lead. They trail the Pittsburgh Pirates by three games for the National League's top wild-card berth.
All times are central time zone. The probable pitchers are updated as of July 26 on Cubs.mlb.com. The Cubs are represented by the pitchers in italics. Batter versus pitcher data is from ESPN.
July 27, 1:20 p.m.
Travis Wood (4-5, 4.33 ERA) vs. Lance Lynn (12-4, 3.10 ERA)
Travis Wood had a 3.05 ERA heading into the All-Star Break. Since then, Wood has surrendered 14 earned runs in two games. This includes a performance where he surrendered six earned runs in six innings against the Cardinals on July 22.
Current Cardinals hitters are 24-for-59 (.407 batting average) with a .446 on-base percentage (OBP) against him. 10 of those 24 hits have been extra-base hits. The dominance is displayed with the 1.158 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS). There really hasn't been anybody in that lineup who isn't a threat to hit him.
July 28, 12:05 p.m.
Jeff Samardzija (7-8, 4.25 ERA) vs. Joe Kelly (1-3, 2.78 ERA)
Jeff Samardzija hasn't fared much better. Current Cardinals hitters are 28-for-86 (.326 batting average) with a .414 OBP against Samardzija. However, only three of those 28 hits have been extra base-hits. Yadier Molina is 6-for-12 (.500 batting average) with two RBIs, one double and one walk. Carlos Beltran is 3-for-6 (.500 batting average) with one walk.
July 29, 1:20 p.m.
Paul Maholm (9-6, 3.88 ERA) vs. Adam Wainwright (8-10, 4.31 ERA)
Paul Maholm is a streaky pitcher. Maholm heads into this contest having surrendered four earned runs in his last six appearances (38.1 innings). However, he has surrendered at least four earned runs in both of his starts against the Cardinals. Maholm hasn't faced them since May 15.
Current Cardinals hitters are 57-for-196 (.291 batting average) with a .359 OBP against him. Nine of those 57 hits have been home runs. Beltran is 9-for-21 (.429 batting average) with six RBIs, two homers, two doubles and two walks. Molina is 10-for-32 (. 313 batting average) with seven RBIs, six walks, one homer and one double.
Fan's Take
The Cubs played a very good series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They won two of three games against MLB's best home team. They're now facing a divisional rival who, despite only being seven games above .500, has MLB's best run-differential (+94).
The Cubs shouldn't get swept at Wrigley Field. There is a chance that Maholm is traded before this start. The Cubs need their pitchers to perform much better than they have against the Cardinals. The Cardinals would enjoy an advantage if the wind was blowing out for any of these games.
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.
More from Yahoo! Contributor Network
Chicago Cubs Mustn't Sell Low on a Matt Garza Trade: Fan's Take
Best MLB Teams with Lowest Team Payrolls Heading into 2012 All-Star Break: Fan's Observation
Green Bay Packers President Mark Murphy Should Support the Four-Game Preseason Schedule: Fan's Take
Fan's Take: Will the Chicago Cubs Be Free Agency Buyers in 2013?
No comments:
Post a Comment