St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs: Odds, Preview, & Prediction | Monday, August 22nd
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs Preview: Back the St. Louis offense in this contest
Tonight, the St. Louis Cardinals will continue their road trip and take on the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Cardinals have been one of the hottest teams in the MLB at the most important time. They have rattled off 7 wins in a row to make their division lead more secure. They will try to continue this streak against a division rival, the Cubs. If you want betting action on this game, you've come to the right place.
Below, you will find a brief preview of each team followed by a prediction for the game.
St. Louis Cardinals Preview:
Four days, five games, the rivalry series begins tonight! https://t.co/ta0HCm26Xx
"Four days, five games, the rivalry series begins tonight!"- @Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals have completed back-to-back three-game sweeps and are now shifting their focus to the Cubs. The St. Louis offense has been very good lately, scoring 5 or more runs in each of the victories during this winning streak. The Cardinals offense ranks 6th in the MLB in many important categories and ranks 3rd in the league in runs per game.
The offense will look to Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado to lead the way tonight. Goldschmidt sits as the favorite to walk away with the National League MVP, as he leads his team in three of the most important categories: batting average, home runs, and runs batted-in. Look for the slugger to do some more damage tonight.
The Cardinals will send Jordan Montgomery to the mound for this contest. He has secured a victory in each of his first three starts with the Cardinals, and that seems to be a good trend to continue tonight.
Chicago Cubs Preview
Here is tonight's #Cubs starting lineup for the series opener vs. St. Louis. https://t.co/7qlm7Vziab
"Here is tonight's #Cubs starting lineup for the series opener vs. St. Louis.."- @Cubs
The Chicago Cubs have lost all hope at making the playoffs this season, but that doesn't mean they can't play spoiler. They have a chance to put pressure on their rivals by coming away with a few wins in this series. They will send southpaw Drew Smyly to the mound for this contest. Smyly has been solid in his most recent starts, but he has had the fortune of facing some lower tier offenses. Tonight, he will be faced with the much larger task of shutting down the Cardinals' offense.
The Cubs offense is led by Wilson Contreas and Ian Happ. If they want to maximize their chances of winning, they must get big contributions from these guys along with the rest of the offense. The key to victory for the Chicago Cubs is to provide run support for Smyly and make it a slug fest.
Pick/Prediction: St. Louis Cardinals Team Total over 4.5
The Cardinals crush lefties, and they are facing one tonight. They have gone over this line in seven straight games and that doesn't seem to be changing tonight. Ride the hot bats, we'll go with the Cardinals to score 5+ runs. Let's go Cardinals!