St. Louis Cardinals (32-31, third in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (36-27, first in the NL Central)
Chicago; Saturday, 7:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: John Gant (4-3, 2.63 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 41 strikeouts) Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (7-4, 4.59 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 56 strikeouts)
LINE: Cubs -162, Cardinals +142; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Nolan Arenado and the Cardinals will take on the Cubs Saturday.
The Cubs are 17-14 against teams from the NL Central. Chicago has hit 85 home runs this season, sixth in the MLB. Javier Baez leads the team with 14, averaging one every 14.9 at-bats.
The Cardinals have gone 13-12 against division opponents. St. Louis is hitting a collective .232 this season, led by Tyler O'Neill with an average of .286.
The Cubs won the last meeting 8-5. Tommy Nance secured his first victory and Joc Pederson went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBIs for Chicago. Genesis Cabrera took his second loss for St. Louis.
TOP PERFORMERS: Baez leads the Cubs with 14 home runs and has 40 RBIs.
O'Neill leads the Cardinals with 15 home runs and has 32 RBIs.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 6-4, .208 batting average, 4.19 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs
Cardinals: 2-8, .230 batting average, 6.93 ERA, outscored by 29 runs
INJURIES: Cubs: Trevor Williams: (appendix), Rowan Wick: (oblique), Justin Steele: (hamstring), Jonathan Holder: (shoulder), Adbert Alzolay: (finger), Nico Hoerner: (hamstring), Matt Duffy: (back), David Bote: (shoulder), Austin Romine: (left wrist), P.J. Higgins: (forearm).
Cardinals: Kodi Whitley: (undisclosed), Miles Mikolas: (forearm), Kwang Hyun Kim: (back), Dakota Hudson: (right elbow), Jordan Hicks: (elbow), Jack Flaherty: (side), Justin Williams: (neck), Harrison Bader: (rib), Max Moroff: (shoulder).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
