St. Louis @ Chicago preview
Wrigley Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 25, 2010 ) St. Louis 3, Chi. Cubs 7
The Chicago Cubs look to help officially end the St. Louis Cardinals’ chances at the postseason today at Wrigley Field.
With the Cincinnati Reds running away with the National League Central over the last month, the division has all but been decided for a while. St. Louis (79-75) endured a tough run down the stretch, and now a Cardinals loss combined with a Cincinnati win at San Diego later today would give the Reds the division pennant.
The Cardinals dropped a 7-3 decision to the Cubs on Saturday afternoon in Game 2 of the series. Chicago’s rookie starter Casey Coleman held St. Louis to a pair of earned runs through seven innings while striking out four and walking none. The Cards jumped out to a 3-0 lead but Aramis Ramirez led the Cubs to the comeback win by going 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs.
St. Louis sends Jake Westbrook (8-11, 4.37 ERA) to the bump in a start it hoped would have a lot more meaning when they acquired him from the Cleveland Indians on July 31.
It didn’t work out that way as the Cardinals have lost seven of his 10 starts, with Westbrook going 2-4 with a 3.77 ERA over that span. He is coming off a tough outing against the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday, allowing three runs in the first inning before getting the hook in the fourth during a 5-2 loss.
Westbrook has faced the Cubs only once and picked up his first win as a member of the Cardinals in a 6-3 decision on Aug. 13. He allowed two runs over six innings, striking out three and walking one.
The Cubs (70-84) answer with Jeff Samardzija (2-1, 6.00 ERA), who has won both of his starts since getting called up from the minors earlier this month. Samardzija made a successful return to the big club by blanking the Cardinals through 5 2/3 innings on Sept. 13. He gave up a pair of home runs to the Florida Marlins in his last outing, but held the Fish to three runs over six innings to earn the win in a 13-3 Cubs blowout.
Samardzija will have to be careful with St. Louis’ Albert Pujols, who has eight hits and six RBIs in his last five games. Pujols has two hits in five career at-bats against Chicago’s big right-hander.
Saturday’s game was marred by a scary incident when Cardinals reliever Blake Hawksworth took a Sam Fuld liner to the face and was taken to the hospital for treatment. His status is unknown.