Chicago @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 25, 2010 ) St. Louis 4, Chi. Cubs 3
After an explosive sweep of their new rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals are back in first place and looking to stay there.
The Cardinals will try to keep their winning streak alive when they open up a three-game series against the traditional rival Chicago Cubs on Friday.
Trailing the Cincinnati Reds by two games in the National League Central at the beginning of the week, St. Louis went about emphatically stating their case as the team to beat by traveling to Cincinnati and taking three straight by a combined score of 21-8.
The Cardinals’ strong play was somewhat overshadowed by some ill-advised comments by Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips and an ugly brawl in Tuesday’s game, but the results were the same: St. Louis was back on top. That series capped a 4-1 road trip.
Owners of the second-best home record in the NL at 38-18, the Cardinals now open an eight-game homestand with the chance to run away in the division, especially if the Cubs insist on rolling over like they have been lately.
Chicago has dropped 13 of its last 15 to fall into fifth place in the Central, 17 games behind St. Louis.
Looking very much like a club that has already packed it in for the season, the Cubs will spend the rest of 2010 seeing if youngsters Tyler Colvin, Starlin Castro, Andrew Cashner and others fit into their long-term plans while attempting to extract something of value out of aging veterans like Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano.
Jake Westbrook will take on the lackluster Chicago offense when he starts today for the Cardinals. Brought over from the Cleveland Indians at the trade deadline to provide some stability at the back of the rotation, Westbrook has done exactly that, though it has yet to show up in the win column.
Known for his sinkerball and his command, the veteran right-hander has struck out 16 and walked one while posting a groundout-to-flyout ratio of 26-to-2. He has allowed a total of five earned runs in 13 innings with St. Louis but has watched the bullpen blow saves in both games.
The Cubs will counter with rookie Thomas Diamond. The 27-year-old former first-round pick looked great in his first major league outing, allowing three runs in six innings while striking out 10, but did fare quite as well last time out, surrendering five runs while walking three and striking out just one in three innings against Cincinnati.
No longer the stud prospect he was after being drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2004, Diamond has worked his way back from a series of arm injuries and joins the rest of Chicago’s youngsters in trying to impress the brass at the end of a lost season.