The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals opened a four-game series at Busch Stadium on Monday night, and the timing made the stakes plain: one club entered first in the MLB Wild Card standings, the other still chasing the last playoff spot. The Cubs started the night 4 1/2 games ahead in the race, while the Cardinals were 1 1/2 games back.
That is why Cubs vs Cardinals was drawing attention before the first pitch. Monday night matched David Peterson against Matthew Liberatore, and the rotation for the rest of the series kept the focus on the standings, with Colin Rea facing Michael McGreevy on Tuesday night, Matthew Boyd against Dustin May on Wednesday night and Shota Imanaga against Andre Pallante on Thursday afternoon. The Cubs entered at 6-4 over their last 10 games, even after an 8-7 loss to the Pirates on Sunday, while the Cardinals had won only three of their last 10 and had seen their offense sputter since the All-Star break.
Chicago’s lineup has given the Cubs a cushion that St. Louis does not have. Pete Crow-Armstrong led the club with a.291 batting average, a.390 OBP, 23 home runs and a.900 OPS, while Seiya Suzuki had 17 home runs and an.836 OPS. Dansby Swanson had 16 home runs, Ian Happ had 18 home runs and a.334 OBP, and Michael Busch had 13 home runs and a.365 OBP. When a team is hitting enough to keep pace at the top of the standings, a four-game set can become less about survival and more about finishing a job.
St. Louis, though, is still close enough that the series cannot be dismissed as routine. The Cardinals were one and a half games back, but they were also behind the Diamondbacks, Pirates and Nationals for the final postseason spot, and that gap sits uncomfortably beside the clock to the August 3 trade deadline. A roster can change quickly in that window, which means these four games are happening while the Cardinals are still trying to prove they should stay intact long enough to matter.
That is what gives the series its edge. The Cubs had the chance to more or less deliver a knockout blow to the Cardinals' wild card hopes if they took the series in St. Louis, and the next three games will decide whether that becomes reality or whether the Cardinals leave Busch Stadium still hanging on. Cubs Vs Cardinals Prediction: Cubs, Cardinals open Sunday Night Baseball on NBC.
