St. Louis Hopes to Continue Strong Play at Home vs Cubs

The St. Louis Cardinals are just 1-5 in their last six games against the Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals will try to use their home-field advantage to end their struggles against the Cubs on Monday night in the first game of a four-game series between these division rivals.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The Cardinals opened as small -115 favorites in this matchup, but betting action on the Cubs has moved this line to a pick’em as both teams are now going off at -105. The total in this matchup has remained steady at 9 runs.

Starting Pitchers Analysis

Alec Mills has compiled a 4.84 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP this season in 48.1 innings pitched across six starts and 12 bullpen appearances. Mills has allowed three earned runs or less in each of his last five starts, lowering his ERA from 6.08 over that stretch. The Cubs are 2-3 over those five starts.

Jake Woodford joins the St. Louis rotation Monday night after spending the first half of the season in the bullpen. Woodford posted a 4.62 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP in 17 relief appearances before being sent to the minors at the end of June to stretch out his arm with some spot starts. The 24-year-old had a 4.50 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in 12 minor-league innings.

Chicago News & Notes

Chicago failed to sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday as they fell short in a 6-4 road loss. The Cubs fell to 4-3 over their last seven games and to 46-47 on the season with the loss, putting them in a tie for third place in the National League Central with the Cardinals, who have the exact same overall record.

Selling at the trade deadline still looks like the most prudent move for this Cubs squad. The team’s 2-13 run ahead of the MLB all-star break dug the Cubs into a nine-game hole in the division and a 7.5-game hole for a wild-card spot. Sluggers like Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez and closer Craig Kimbrel could all bring in nice hauls from teams in playoff contention.

St. Louis News & Notes

The Cardinals rode two outstanding pitching performances to back-to-back victories over the San Francisco Giants this weekend. Kwang Hyun Kim pitched six scoreless innings in St. Louis’s 3-1 win on Saturday and Wade LeBlanc and the bullpen combined to allow only one run in the team’s 2-1 win on Sunday. St. Louis is now 5-3 over its last eight games, including four wins over the NL-leading Giants.

While the team has shown flashes of brilliance this season, the Cardinals find themselves in a similar position to the Cubs ahead of the trade deadline. It is going to be difficult to catch the Milwaukee Brewers for the top spot in the NL Central or to earn a wild-card spot. The Cardinals may be sellers, or they may persuade themselves to shop for a bat to help improve an offense ranked 28th in the majors in scoring, averaging 3.92 runs per game.

Betting Pick: St. Louis -105