Chicago Cubs (56-75, third in the NL Central) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (76-55, first in the NL Central)
St. Louis; Friday, 8:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Adrian Sampson (1-4, 3.97 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 50 strikeouts); Cardinals: Jordan Montgomery (7-3, 3.28 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 125 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cardinals -240, Cubs +197; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals host the Chicago Cubs on Friday to start a three-game series.
St. Louis has gone 42-22 at home and 76-55 overall. The Cardinals have the second-ranked team on-base percentage in the NL at .330.
Chicago has a 28-37 record on the road and a 56-75 record overall. The Cubs are eighth in the NL with 134 total home runs, averaging 1.0 per game.
Friday's game is the 17th time these teams match up this season. The Cardinals hold a 10-6 advantage in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Paul Goldschmidt has 34 doubles and 33 home runs while hitting .332 for the Cardinals. Tyler O'Neill is 7-for-31 with five home runs over the past 10 games.
Willson Contreras has 22 doubles, two triples, 21 home runs and 54 RBI while hitting .246 for the Cubs. Seiya Suzuki is 12-for-34 with three doubles over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 6-4, .266 batting average, 4.05 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs
Cubs: 4-6, .231 batting average, 5.36 ERA, outscored by 16 runs
INJURIES: Cardinals: Drew VerHagen: 60-Day IL (hip), Steven Matz: 15-Day IL (knee), Jack Flaherty: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alex Reyes: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Cubs: Wade Miley: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Willson Contreras: day-to-day (foot), Patrick Wisdom: 10-Day IL (finger), Alec Mills: 60-Day IL (back), Steven Brault: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Kyle Hendricks: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jason Heyward: 60-Day IL (knee), Keegan Thompson: 15-Day IL (back), Michael Hermosillo: 60-Day IL (quadricep), Ethan Roberts: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Adbert Alzolay: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Codi Heuer: 60-Day IL (elbow), Brad Wieck: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
