St. Louis Cardinals (34-34) vs. Chicago Cubs (33-37)
June 15, 2024 2:20 pm EDT
The Line: Chicago Cubs -170 / St. Louis Cardinals +145; Over/Under: +7.5
(Get latest betting odds)
In this article we will formulate a Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals prediction for this MLB game on Saturday, June 15th at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. Let’s take a look at the prediction for game two in the series.
Cubs Continue to Struggle
The Chicago Cubs are 33-37 this season and they have lost three of their last four games. Chicago dropped game one in this series on Friday, when they failed to score any runs. Prior to this series, the Cubs lost two out of three against the Rays, lost three out of four against the Reds, and won both games against the White Sox. Chicago is just 2-6 in their last eight games and they are towards the bottom of the NL Central standings.
The Chicago pitching staff has a 3.91 ERA, a 1.28 WHIP, and a .241 opponent batting average. The Cubs offense has scored 292 runs with a .226 batting average and a .308 on base percentage. Cody Bellinger is batting .262 with nine home runs and 32 RBI’s for the Cubs this season. Chicago is 17th in runs scored so far this season, but they have scored three runs or fewer in five of their last seven games.
Cardinals are Back to .500
The St. Louis Cardinals are 34-34 this year and they have won three games in a row. St. Louis won the first game in this series by a score of 3-0 on Friday afternoon. Prior to this series, the Cardinals won two out of three against the Pirates, split four games with the Rockies, and lost two out of three against the Astros. St. Louis is 6-3 in their last nine games and they are second in the NL Central standings.
The St. Louis pitching staff has a 3.94 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, and a .245 opponent batting average. The Cardinals offense has scored 266 runs with a .237 batting average and a .306 on base percentage. Nolan Gorman is batting .211 with 15 home runs and 33 RBI’s for the Cardinals this season. St. Louis is 17th in team ERA this year and they have allowed three runs or fewer in five straight games.
Starting Pitchers
The projected starting pitcher for Chicago is Shota Imanaga, who is 6-1 with a 1.96 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP over 69.0 innings pitched this year. Imanaga has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four of his last five starts, but did allow seven earned runs and eight hits over 4.1 innings against the Brewers three starts ago. Chicago is 10-2 in Imanaga’s 12 starts this year. The projected starting pitcher for St. Louis is Andre Pallante, who is 2-2 with a 4.88 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP over 24.0 innings pitched this season. Pallante has allowed 0 earned runs in two of his last three starts, but did allow six earned runs and six hits over 3.0 innings against the Astros two starts ago.
Why the Chicago Cubs will win
The Cubs have won 10 of their last 12 home games following a home loss.
The Cardinals have lost eight of their last 10 day games against NL Central opponents following a road win.
The Cardinals have failed to cover the run line in five of their last six games following a road win.
The Cubs have covered the run line in four of their last five games against National League opponents following a loss.
Total Runs Facts
Each of the Cardinals’ last eight games against NL Central opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
Each of the Cubs’ last seven games have gone UNDER the total runs line.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Cubs’ last 10 home games against National League opponents.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Cardinals’ last six games against NL Central opponents.
Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction
St. Louis has really played some decent baseball over the last month or so, after they started the season playing very poorly. The Cardinals are now second in the NL Central and they are right in the middle of the NL Wild Card race. Chicago is four games below .500 right now and they have been bad for the last few weeks. The Cubs are starting Shota Imanaga, who has been fantastic in just about every start. Pallante is starting for the Cardinals, but the jury is still out on how he is as a starter. With Imanaga on the mound, I don’t think we can go against Chicago. My Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals prediction is for the Cubs to win by at least two runs.
