The St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs meet Sunday in MLB action from Wrigley Field. Here’s a Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals prediction. This will be the final installment in a three-game series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for the game.
St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview
In their early-week series, the Cardinals took on the Pittsburgh Pirates. St. Louis lost the opener of that set, then came back for wins 4-2 and 4-3 to take the series. After a 3-0 win over the Cubs on Friday, in game two the Cards came up with just four team hits in a 5-1 loss. Andre Pallante gave up one earned over 3.1 innings in the start.
In the starter role for the Cardinals on Sunday it’ll be Miles Mikolas. This year Mikolas is 4-6 with a 4.85 ERA in 14 starts. He has 59 Ks in 78.0 innings. Mikolas is 58-59 with a 4.00 ERA in 192 career games (164 starts).
Chicago Cubs Betting Preview
Over on the Cubs’ side, they played the Tampa Bay Rays in their last set. Chicago won Wednesday’s matchup but lost the other two games 5-2 and 3-2. After their shutout loss Friday, on Saturday the Cubs scored three runs in the seventh inning to help seal up the win. Shota Imanaga had 7.0 innings with one earned run as starter.
It’ll be Jameson Taillon in the starting pitcher role for the Cubs on Sunday. This year Taillon is 3-2 with a 3.09 ERA and 40 Ks in 55.1 innings over 10 starts. Taillon is 62-47 with a 3.95 ERA in 183 career games (182 starts).
Cardinals vs Cubs Injury Notes
Cardinals catcher Wilson Contreras (forearm) is hoping to begin a rehab assignment around June 18. RP Riley O’Brien (forearm) began a rehab assignment with Double-A Springfield on Saturday.
Cubs SP Caleb Kilian (shoulder) threw 32 pitches during a bullpen session Friday.
Total Runs Facts
- Each of the Cardinals’ last nine games against NL Central opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Each of the Cubs’ last eight games have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Cubs’ last 11 home games against National League opponents.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Cardinals’ last seven games against NL Central opponents.
Chicago Cubs Player Prop Facts
- Jameson Taillon has recorded five or more strikeouts in each of his eight previous home appearances against the Cardinals.
- Nick Madrigal has recorded a Double in each of his last three appearances with the Cubs as favorites against the Cardinals.
- Jameson Taillon has recorded a win in three of his last four home appearances against NL opponents that held a losing record.
- Ian Happ has hit at least one home run in each of his last three appearances against the Cardinals after playing the previous day.
- Dansby Swanson has recorded at least one RBI in six of his last seven home appearances against the Cardinals.
- Cody Bellinger has recorded at least one hit in each of the Cubs’ last nine Sunday games against NL Central opponents that held a losing record.
- Ian Happ has recorded a Single in each of his last four home appearances against the Cardinals after playing the previous day.
- Nick Madrigal has recorded two or more total bases in seven of his eight previous appearances with his team as a favorite against the Cardinals.
- Ian Happ has scored at least one run in each of his last seven appearances against the Cardinals after playing the previous day.
St. Louis Cardinals Player Prop Facts
- Miles Mikolas has recorded five or more strikeouts in five of his last six appearances against NL Central opponents.
- Willson Contreras has recorded a Double in four of his last five appearances in day games against NL teams that held a losing record.
- Willson Contreras has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 11 appearances with the Cardinals as underdogs against NL opponents.
- Lars Nootbaar has recorded at least one Single in each of his last five appearances against NL Central opponents.
- Willson Contreras has recorded at least one total base in each of his last 11 appearances with the Cardinals as underdogs against NL opponents.
- Willson Contreras has scored at least one run in each of his last seven appearances against opponents that held a losing record.
- Miles Mikolas has recorded a win in three of his last four appearances with the Cardinals as road underdogs.
- Matt Carpenter has hit a home run in each of his last two appearances in day games against NL teams that held a losing record.
- Lars Nootbaar has recorded at least one RBI in three of his last four appearances against the Cubs.
Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction
I’ll stick with the Cardinals. Mikolas has done well over his last two starts. He’s 1-0 in that pair with 13.0 combined innings, two earned runs, six hits and one walk. As for Taillon, he had eight earned runs on 16 hits and two walks in 11.0 combined innings earlier this month, but he’s coming off 6.0 clean frames in a no-decision versus the Rays.
On Saturday the Cardinals got a lone RBI from Nolan Arenado and not much else offensively. St. Louis also saw some spotty outings from a couple of bullpen guys (specifically Kyle Leahy and John King), so there wasn’t much to be happy about in the loss. That said, I like Mikolas to set things up well enough for a W on Sunday.