The Cardinals, very slow out of the gate this season, shoot for a fourth straight victory and a series sweep of the Cubs Wednesday night at Wrigley Field. Lefty Jordan Montgomery looks to keep things going in the right direction for St. Louis against fellow Southpaw and 5-0 Justin Steele for Chicago. How are we playing this game with our free Cards/Cubs betting pick?
MLB Betting Odds
Wednesday’s baseball betting market opened this game at right around a pick ’em, with an over/under of eight runs. Both figures were holding steady in the early betting action.
Cardinals-Cubs Betting Preview
St. Louis grabbed the opener of this series Monday 3-1, then won Tuesday 6-4 with two runs in the top of the ninth. The Cardinals won Monday as +110 underdogs, then at +105 Tuesday. St. Louis recently struggled through an eight-game losing skid, including five in a row at home. But now the Cardinals have won three straight. At 13-24 overall, St. Louis owns the worst record in the National League. Meanwhile, following a very nice start to this season, Chicago is just 3-9 over its last 12 games and now two games under .500 overall at 17-19. Last year the Cardinals took the season series from the Cubs 13 games to six.
Wednesday’s Pitching Match-Up
Steele is two outs away from being a perfect 7/7 on quality starts this season. Last Friday, he held Miami to one run and six hits through seven innings of a 4-1 Chicago victory. And over seven starts, he’s yet to allow more than two earned runs, going at least six innings six times. He’s also been very efficient; last time out, he only needed 86 pitches to get 21 outs. On the season, the Cubs are 5-2 with Steele, and that’s at least one game worse than they should be, based on his performances. Over two career starts against St. Louis – one bad one in 2021, one good one last year – Steele allowed seven ER and 14 hits through 12 innings. Chicago lost both of those games. Montgomery is 5/7 on quality starts this year, working on a run of three in a row. Last Friday, he held Detroit to two runs and six hits through six innings, although the Cardinals eventually lost that game 5-4. And over his last three starts, he’s allowed just three ER and 16 hits through 18 2/3 innings, with four walks against 19 strikeouts. St. Louis is only 2-5 with Montgomery this season, but that ain’t his fault; the Cardinals have been shut out three times with him on the mound. Over three starts against the Cubs last year, one while still with the Yankees, Montgomery allowed zero runs – 0 – and 13 hits through 22 innings. His teams won all three of those games.
Splits With the Sticks
St. Louis is batting .273 against left-handed pitching this season, with a .334 team OBP and a .439 team slugging percentage. Chicago is slashing .273/.338/.449 against left-handed pitching.
The Bullpens
The Cubs bullpen owns a 3.51 ERA this season, along with a 1.13 WHIP and a 2.78 K/BB ratio. The Cardinals pen owns a 3.69 ERA, a 1.32 WHIP, and a 2.58 K/BB ratio.
MLB Betting Trends
St. Louis is 7-11 on the road this season and 3-4 against left-handed starters. Chicago is 10-11 at home and 7-4 against left-handed starters.
Totals Report
The totals are split 18-18 in Cardinals games this season. The funders are 21-15 in Cubs games. The funders are 11-10 at Wrigley Field this season.
