St. Louis Cardinals (31-29, third in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (34-27, first in the NL Central)
Chicago; Friday, 2 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (4-5, 4.41 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 49 strikeouts) Cubs: Cole Hamels (4-2, 3.62 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 64 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: St. Louis hits the road to begin a three game series against Chicago.
The Cubs are 10-11 against teams from the NL Central. Chicago's team on-base percentage of .336 is second in the National League. Willson Contreras leads the team with an OBP of .392.
The Cardinals are 15-14 against teams from the NL Central. St. Louis has slugged .413 this season. Marcell Ozuna leads the team with a mark of .527. This is the first meeting of the season for these two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Anthony Rizzo leads the Cubs with 16 home runs and is slugging .556. Kyle Schwarber is 9-for-39 with a double, three home runs and four RBIs over the last 10 games for Chicago.
Ozuna leads the Cardinals with 28 extra base hits and is slugging .527. Matt Wieters is 5-for-23 with two doubles, two home runs and four RBIs over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 4-6, .226 batting average, 4.17 ERA, outscored opponents by one run
Cardinals: 6-4, .218 batting average, 3.30 ERA
Cubs Injuries: Allen Webster: 10-day IL (hand), Brandon Morrow: 60-day IL (elbow), Kendall Graveman: 60-day IL (elbow), Xavier Cedeno: 10-day IL (wrist), Tony Barnette: 60-day IL (shoulder).
Cardinals Injuries: Mike Mayers: 10-day IL (shoulder), Brett Cecil: 60-day IL (wrist/forearm), Matt Carpenter: day-to-day (leg), Yadier Molina: 10-day IL (thumb).
