The St. Louis Cardinals will look to keep their bats rolling into Wednesday night, as they continue a three-game set with the lowly Chicago Cubs. Chicago wasn’t as active at the trade deadline as many figured they would have been, and still they were not competitive in Tuesday night’s series opener. The Cards throttled them by a 6-0 score-line, and with St. Louis continuing a crucial playoff push, expect them to continue with their torrid pace into Wednesday night.
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Justin Steele (4-7, 3.86 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 87 strikeouts); Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (8-8, 2.86 ERA, .99 WHIP, 100 strikeouts)
One aspect of this game to look forward to is the pitching matchup. Miles Mikolas has been dominant for the majority of this season in Cardinals’ red, while Justin Steele has emerged as a strikeout master of his own. Though Steele can be erratic, the young thrower has shown a good skill-set, and has the stuff to build upon going forward. In a down season for the Cubs, he continues to be a bright spot.
Justin Steele has a 2.12 ERA (8 ER/34 IP) in his last six starts at Wrigley Field.
Tonight: 5 IP, 1 ER, 6 K. pic.twitter.com/GaHvGNskCN
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 30, 2022
It is also worth noting that Steele has been especially solid at home in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, but not as good on the road. Looking to tame St. Louis’ torrid offense will be no easy task, but Steele has fared well in recent outings. Who will get the better of who tonight? Read on beneath the current odds for our answer to that question, as well as the latest analysis, trends, and stats to help you make an informed betting decision on this NL Central showdown. Enjoy the game!
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs Live Odds & Betting History
Betting odds provided by BOVADA
| TEAMS | CUBS | CARDINALS |
| MONEYLINE | +150 | -170 |
| RUN LINE | +1.5 (-125) | -1.5 (+105) |
| TOTAL | Over 8.5 (-110) | Under 8.5 (-110) |
| TEAM DATA | CUBS | CARDINALS |
| Overall Record | 41-61 | 55-48 |
| Over/Under/Push | 44-51-7 | 49-52-2 |
| Home/Away Record | 21-29 | 30-20 |
| Runs Per Game | 4.3 | 4.6 |
| Runs Allowed Per Game | 4.9 | 3.9 |
| Team Batting Average | .243 | .254 |
| Bullpen ERA | 4.25 | 3.65 |
Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals Prediction:
Though the Chicago Cubs are miles outside of the playoff picture, they’ve still been surprisingly effective at the plate. Chicago enters Wednesday evening hitting the ball at a good rate, putting up a 103 wRC+ over their past two weeks. While that grades out okay, look for that to come crashing down against one of the sport’s hottest pitchers in Miles Mikolas.
Mikolas had all his pitches working. He struck out 4 batters. Two on his sinker, 1 on his 4-seam fastball, and one on a curveball. pic.twitter.com/NBNNgVIsTJ
— Cardinals Dude (@Turn2Dude) July 30, 2022
The right-hander is having a quality season, and has found a real groove on the mound. He mixes his pitches well, and when he’s on and his stuff has movement, he’s proven to be nearly unhittable. Mikolas really only induces soft contact, and possesses outstanding control, as seen by his sub-5% walk rate entering Wednesday night.
And while Justin Steele is no slouch either, he’ll need to really work to match Mikolas in what should be a rowdy atmosphere in Busch Stadium. Steele does things a little differently, walking too many batters, but often bailing himself out with a big arm and good out pitches. He enters this matchup inducing soft contact, and getting a lot of strikeouts in the process. Steele has also been especially good at limiting the long-ball, something the power bats of St. Louis tend to thrive on. The tag-team bash brothers duo of Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt generate a ton of their offense via the long-ball, and Steele should be effective at stifling that power.
The surface of the sun is hot, but Nolan Arenado is hotter. pic.twitter.com/07qb2XAmta
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 13, 2022
Cubs vs. Cardinals Trends To Know:
- Cubs are 4-1 in their last 5 vs. National League Central.
- Under is 4-0 in Cubs last 4 when their opponent scores 5 runs or more in their previous game.
- Under is 4-0 in Cubs last 4 vs. National League Central.
- Under is 7-1 in Cubs last 8 on grass.
- Under is 10-1-2 in Cardinals last 13 games vs. a left-handed starter.
- Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in St. Louis.
- Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings between these two teams.
Though both offenses enter doing quite well, expect Justin Steele and Miles Mikolas to get the better of each opposing lineup tonight. Both pitchers profile well and have had success against these batters on previous occasions. Recent trends point to a low-scoring encounter, and Wednesday’s best bet for this NL Central divisional clash seems to be on the under 8.5 runs.
