Kyle Hendricks (14-7, 2.07 ERA) starts for the Chicago Cubs (91-51) as they square off against Mike Leake (9-9, 4.61 ERA) and the St. Louis Cardinals (75-67) in the first of a three-game series at Busch Stadium. Action begins at 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday, Sep. 12 and can be seen on CSCh and FSMW.
Leake pitched 4.1 innings in his last outing, surrendering three runs, striking out three and walking one in a 4-3 defeat to the Pirates. Matt Carpenter (.280, 75 Rs, 19 HRs, 61 RBIs) had another good game yesterday, going 2 for 4 with one run. Hendricks went 6.0 innings, surrendering one run, striking out six and walking two in a 7-2 win over the Brewers in his most recent start. Kris Bryant (.299, 113 Rs, 37 HRs, 94 RBIs, 8 SBs) went 1 for 5 yesterday with one RBI.
Notes
When leading after seven innings, Chicago is 48-23, while St. Louis is 33-26.
The Cubs are coming off of a weak pitching game where they recorded five strikeouts. The Cardinals have a record of 15-13 when opponents’ pitchers have five strikeouts or less.
When they outhit their opponents, the Cubs are 76-15. The Cardinals have a 52-8 record when outhitting opponents.
St. Louis and Chicago both rank in the top five of the league in runs. St. Louis sits at fifth with 697 runs this season and Chicago ranks third with 709.
St. Louis and Chicago both rank in the top five of the league for their on-base plus slugging percentage. St. Louis sits at third with an OPS of .776, and Chicago ranks fifth with an OPS of .769.
When the Cubs allow at least one home run, they are 47-41. When the Cardinals allow one or more homers, they have a 41-44 record.
