Chicago pays a visit to St. Louis on Friday, hoping to shut down the Cardinals bats in baseball action at Busch Stadium.

Chicago puts its faith in starter Ryan Dempster to earn a win and boost his personal mark of 4-4. Getting the ball for the Cardinals is Jamie Garcia, who owns a 5-1 record on the season with a 3.28 ERA.



View Chi Cubs vs St Louis Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
On the Sportsbook MLB line for this matchup, St. Louis sat as -185 favorites. The total was set at 7.5.

Power Rankings:
The Odds Shark MLB Power Rankings have the Cardinals at No. 4 in the National League and the Cubs at No. 7 in the National League heading into this contest.



How They Match Up:
Scoring stats point to some edges in this matchup. The game features St. Louis' National League No. 1-ranked scoring average of 4.9 runs per game, against a Cubs offense rated No. 6 and scoring 4.3 runs per game in the league. The Cardinals have averaged 9.7 hits per game to date this season, more than the Cubs hitters have managed (9.3 per nine innings).

Pitching and defensive stats are important baseball handicapping factors and St. Louis has the National League's No. 11-ranked defense. In the other dugout, the Cubs own the National League's No. 16 mark in runs allowed.

Chicago was a 3-1 loser in its last match at home against the Astros. They lost as -122 favorites, while the total score of 4 made Sportsbooks of UNDER bettors. Chicago didn't get the job done in their last match, falling 3-1 to Houston on Wednesday at Wrigley Field.

In their last action, St. Louis was a 12-7 loser at home against the Giants. Bettors on San Francisco at +108 on the moneyline collected their winnings from that game, while the total score (19) sent OVER bettors home happy as well. St. Louis looks to rebound from a loss to the Giants, who beat them 12-7 on Thursday behind a start from Jonathan Sanchez at Busch Stadium.


Chicago Cubs Trends:
When playing on Friday are 6-4
Before playing St. Louis are 5-5
After playing Houston are 3-7
After a loss are 5-5

St. Louis Cardinals Trends:
When playing on Friday are 6-4
Before playing Chi Cubs are 5-5
After playing San Francisco are 7-3
After a loss are 7-3

A few Cubs at Cardinals trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chi Cubs' last 5 games when playing St. Louis
Chi Cubs are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chi Cubs' last 7 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 14 of Chi Cubs' last 21 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of St. Louis' last 5 games when playing Chi Cubs
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of St. Louis' last 11 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of St. Louis' last 7 games
St. Louis is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games at home


Next up:
Chi Cubs at St. Louis, Saturday, June 4