We get to see the clash of two teams in the NL Central division clash against one another when the St. Louis Cardinals travel to play the Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals are currently favored to win this game after knocking off the Arizona Diamondbacks in their last game.
Meanwhile, the Cubs fall into the underdog category coming into this game following a 5-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. Let’s take a look at each of these teams and predict which of them is an absolute lock to win this game.
Cardinals Starting Montgomery
Starting off with the road team, the Cardinals. Jordan Montgomery is the probable pitcher for them to start this game off hot. Montgomery has pitched in 24 games throughout the year and is holding onto a solid 3.29 ERA. Out of those 24 games, he’s picked up a whopping 10 quality starts to his name.
For those that don’t know, a quality start is when a pitcher goes for six or more innings and has an ERA of less than three by the time he subs out. It’s been a while since Montgomery has been pulled early also. He’s gone at least five innings in his past three outings. We’ve seen Montgomery pitch against Chicago earlier in the year, going seven innings and allowing just five hits on 26 batters.
Cubs Hope To Bounce Back With Smyly
Then flipping over to the Cubs, we will be likely be seeing Drew Smyly. Smyly is making his 17th start of the year but has a negative record of 5-6 to his name. His ERA remains average at 3.67 and he hasn’t pitched in nearly a week. That last game was against the Washington Nationals when he allowed two earned runs and four hits throughout a little over five innings of action.
He’s been far worse than Montgomery in the quality starts category as well. Smyly just has three quality starts to his name out of 16 games, whereas Montgomery has 10 in 24 games. To make matters worse for Chicago, Smyly is being put against one of the hottest batting teams in the league. St. Louis is eighth in the league in total hits, fifth in batting average and eighth in total home runs.
Final Pick
So, when it comes down to picking a winner for this game, it’s hard to imagine choosing against the Cardinals. St. Louis has been on an absolute tear lately and it’s been apparent in their record. The Cardinals are in first place in their division by five games and have won eight out of their last 10 games. Oh, and I forgot to mention that they’ve won seven straight as well. Couple all of that information with the fact that Montgomery is heading to the mound, and they look like a surefire bet to win.
After all, he’s almost pitched as many quality starts as he has non-quality starts. Which is a very hard task to accomplish. Chicago has won eight out of their last 11 games, but I don’t know if I can trust Smyly against a team like the Cardinals. They have been on a tear when it comes to batting and Smyly has been inconsistent as it is. Again, I just feel like the Cardinals are going to keep on cruising here.
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