Sunday Night Baseball: Cubs vs. Cardinals
One of baseball’s oldest and most storied rivalries will be on display tonight with Cubs vs. Cardinals as the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball matchup. So far this season, the Cubs hold a 5-4 edge over the Cardinals, but have outscored the Redbirds 57-33. Tonight, the teams square off in the rubber match of this three-game set, as St. Louis won 5-0 on Friday and Chicago won 9-1 yesterday.
Shota Imanaga and Sonny Gray are lined up to throw the first pitches of the evening for their respective teams in what should be a good one.
See how others are wagering on the game with our VSiN MLB Betting Splits.
How to Watch Cubs vs. Cardinals
Where: ESPN
When: Sunday, August 10, 7:00 p.m. ET
Cubs vs. Cardinals MLB Odds
Chicago Cubs -121 // St. Louis Cardinals -101
Total: 7.5 (-109/-111)
Cubs vs. Cardinals Game Preview
Inconsistency has plagued the Cubs for a while now. They’ve fallen five games back of the incredibly hot Milwaukee Brewers, as the Cubs were tied for the division lead as recently as July 27. They entered August one game back and have lost quite a bit of ground over the last week and a half. They do still control their own destiny in the Wild Card hunt.
The Cardinals were a seller at the Trade Deadline, moving Ryan Helsley to the Mets, but they haven’t waved the white flag yet, sitting 4.5 games out of a playoff spot as play began on Sunday. They have the chance tonight to cut that down by a game with their ace on the hill.
Gray enters this start with an underwhelming 4.21 ERA, but he’s run on the wrong side of luck this season, as he sports a 3.74 xERA and a 3.09 FIP in his 128.1 innings of work. He has a 68.1% LOB% with a .328 BABIP against, so those two numbers have really cut into his performance. He has one of the lowest BB% in the league and has struck out over a batter per inning, but balls in play and men on base have been hurtful.
Gray had an excellent bounce back start against the Dodgers last time out after three poor outings to begin the second half. He allowed 19 runs on 30 hits to the Diamondbacks, Padres, and Marlins before righting the ship at Dodger Stadium six days ago with just a solo homer allowed over seven masterful innings. In four second-half starts, Gray has allowed 11 Barrels and 32 hard-hit balls, so his command has been hit or miss to say the least.
Imanaga enters with a 3.12 ERA, but his advanced metrics show how fortunate he’s been, which is a direct contrast to Gray. The Japanese southpaw has a 3.66 xERA and a 4.47 FIP, as a low K% has been boosted by a .225 BABIP against and an 85.8% LOB%. Since returning from the IL on June 26, he has a 3.43 ERA with a 4.38 FIP over eight starts. He was rocked to the tune of seven runs by the White Sox on July 25, accounting for seven of the 17 runs he has allowed in that span.
Both offenses have struggled since the Midsummer Classic, as the Cubs rank 18th in wOBA at .312 and the Cardinals sit 24th at .298. With a couple of solid starters on the bump, I think we’ll continue to see the offenses scuffle. St. Louis may also be without leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan, who missed yesterday’s game with some left groin tightness.
Pick: Under 7.5 (-111)
Cubs vs. Cardinals Player Props
Willson Contreras Over 1.5 Total Bases (+105)
While I expect the offenses as a whole to have some difficulties, I could see Contreras having a nice night. The former Cub owns a .280/.376/.523 slash against lefties on the season and has also been swinging a good stick in the second half with a .294/.380/.574 slash in 79 plate appearances. On the season, Contreras has 30 hits against LHP and 16 of them have gone for extra bases.
