Chicago Cubs (69-91) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (90-70)
October 2, 2021 7:15 pm EDT
The Line: St. Louis Cardinals -196 / Chicago Cubs +145; Over/Under: +8
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The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals meet Saturday in MLB action at Busch Stadium. The Cubs look for a win after losing six of their last eight games. The Cardinals look for a win after winning 10 of their last 11 games.
The Chicago Cubs have scored 15 runs in their last three games and four or more runs in six of their last nine games. The Cubs have lost 10 of their last 12 games when scoring four or more runs. Ian Happ leads the Cubs with 103 hits and 64 RBI while Willson Contreras and Rafael Ortega have combined for 180 hits and 90 RBI. Adrian Sampson gets the ball, and he is 1-2 with a 2.87 ERA and 21 strikeouts this season. Sampson is 1-0 with a 2.38 ERA and five strikeouts in his career against the Cardinals.
The St. Louis Cardinals have scored eight runs in their last three games and four or more runs in seven of their last eight games. The Cardinals have won 19 straight games when scoring at least one run. Paul Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals with 176 hits and 99 RBI while Tommy Edman and Nolan Arenado have combined for 316 hits and 159 RBI. Jon Lester gets the ball, and he is 7-6 with a 4.62 ERA and 87 strikeouts this season. Lester is 2-1 with a 6.26 ERA and 23 strikeouts in his career against the Cubs.
The Cubs are 2-6 in their last 8 Saturday games and 27-57 in their last 84 overall. The Cardinals are 5-1 in their last 6 during game 2 of a series and 4-1 in their last 5 Saturday games. The over is 14-3 in Cubs last 17 overall. The under is 11-5-2 in Cardinals last 18 home games. The Cubs are 0-6 in the last 6 meetings.
Adrian Sampson has been really good this season, but I’m not sure it matters much when he’s on a Cubs team that’s counting down the hours till the offseason. The St. Louis Cardinals are locked into the wild card spot, but they continue to build the positive winning vibes. Lester has allowed just 10 earned runs in his last 29.1 innings and he’ll be motivated to face his former team. Give me the Cards and the RL for max betting value.
