Cardinals vs. Cubs Picks & Predictions

St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs
Date: Sunday, June 5th, 07:08 ET
Location: Wrigley Field
TV: ESPN
Money Line: Cardinals -135 / Cubs +113 (Everygame)
Total Line: 8.5

STARTING PITCHING

St. Louis: Adam Wainwright (5-4, 2.75) Chicago: Justin Steele (1-5, 5.4)

Cardinals Projected Lineup

Andrew Knizner C Brendan Donovan 3B Albert Pujols 1B Harrison Bader CF Nolan Arenado 3B Edmundo Sosa SS Juan Yepez 1B Tommy Edman 2B Paul Goldschmidt 1B Adam Wainwright P

Cubs Projected Lineup

Jason Heyward RF Nico Hoerner 2B Alfonso Rivas 1B P.J. Higgins C Patrick Wisdom 3B Andrelton Simmons SS Frank Schwindel P Christopher Morel 2B Ian Happ LF Justin Steele P

STRAIGHT UP/ OVER/UNDER / RUN LINE RECORDS

St. Louis Cardinals: 31-23-0 SU / OU 27-24-3 / Run Line W/L 30-24-0 Chicago Cubs: 23-31-0 SU / OU 27-24-3 / Run Line W/L 30-24-0

The Chicago Cubs host the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, June 5th at Wrigley Field. The first pitch in this matchup is scheduled for 07:08 ET. The MLB Odds Board places St. Louis as the favorite (-135), with an OU line set at 8.5.

Recent Form

In their most recent game, St. Louis picked up a 3-run win over the Cubs (7-4). The Cubs came up with 12 hits leading to 12 runs against St. Louis’s pitchers. The Cardinals benefited from an offense that generated 7 runs on 11 hits. In the matchup, St. Louis was favored at -117.0 on the moneyline. Through 32 games as the favorite, the team has found the win column at a rate of 66.0%. With the over-under line set at 8.0 runs, the Cardinals and Cubs combined to go over this total. So far, St. Louis has an above .500 over-under record of 27-24-3.

In the Cardinals last 5 games, they are above .500, going 3-2. Over this stretch, the team has a positive run differential at +8. Offensively, the team has put up 32 runs in their last 5 games. St. Louis’s season average comes in at 4.89 (4th. So far, St. Louis has won over half of their 17 series played, going 8-3-6.

Chicago will be looking to move on from a tough loss to the Cardinals by the score of 7-4. Chicago’s pitching staff gave up 11 hits, leading to 7 runs for the Cardinals. The Cub’s offense ended the game with just 4 runs on 12 hits. This loss came as no surprise, as Chicago came into the game as the underdog, getting 107.0. So far, the team has gone into 34 games as the underdog, still finding the win column at a rate of 41.0%. In terms of the over-under, the Cubs and Cardinals combined to surpass the line of 8.0 runs. For the season, the team’s over-under record is 27-24-3.

Across their last 5 contests, the Cubs are above .500, going 3-2. They have managed to pick up these wins despite having a negative run differential of their last 5 games (-4). Chicago is still playing winning baseball, even with their offense averaging just 5.2 runs per game, compared to a season-long mark of 4.48. Chicago has a below .500 series record of just 4-7-6.

Pitching Matchup

The St. Louis Cardinals will send Adam Wainwright to the mound with an overall record of 5-4. Through 10 appearances, Wainwright has an ERA of just 2.75 while averaging 5.9 innings per appearance. Across his previous appearances, the right-hander has a batting average allowed of 0.229. Opposing batters are hitting for power at a below-average rate against Wainwright, as he is allowing just 0.76 per 9 innings. Wainwright has accumulated a strikeout percentage of 20.0% and a per-game average of 4.8. For the season, he has struggled with command averaging 3.05 walks per outing.

The Chicago Cubs will send Justin Steele to the mound with an overall record of 1-5. To date, Steele has an ERA of 5.4 while lasting an average of 4.0 innings per appearance. Opposing teams have hit the ball well against the left-hander, with a batting average of 0.255. Opposing batters are hitting for power at a below-average rate against Steele, as he is allowing just 0.45 per 9 innings. Overall, he is averaging 4.6 per game, on a K rate of 25.0%. Command has been a problem for Steele, as he is giving up 5.17 walks per outing.

St. Louis vs Chicago History

Today’s matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs will be their 4th meeting of the season. Today’s game will be a rubber match for the two teams, as St. Louis and Chicago each have 2 wins. Through 4th games, the series’ over-under record is 3-1, with the average run total sitting at 9.0 runs per game. In these matchups, the average scoring differential sits at 4.75 runs. Last season, St. Louis picked up the series win, 10 games to 9. The over-under record in last year’s matchups was 10-9, with the average run total being 9.0 runs per game. The average scoring differential in this series was 3.11 runs per game.

Betting Trends

• The total has gone OVER in 4 of St. Louis’s last 5 games on the road
• St. Louis is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games when playing on the road against Chi Cubs
• The total has gone OVER in 6 of Chi Cubs’ last 8 games when playing at home against St. Louis
• The total has gone OVER in 8 of Chi Cubs’ last 11 games at home

St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs Prediction

The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs will wrap up their series on Sunday Night baseball. In a matchup between Adam Wainwright and Justin Steele, the Cardinals are the slight favorites on the moneyline. Look for St. Louis to pick up the win, as I see Wainwright is coming off another outstanding start vs. the Padres. I like St. Louis on the moneyline.

Free MLB Pick: Cardinals Moneyline