Make it five wins and five losses for the St. Louis Cardinals over their last 10 games (through Thursday). Not good enough. <\/p>\n
Sunday Night Baseball Betting \u2013 Cardinals vs Cubs Preview & Pick<\/strong> St. Louis Cardinals (66-58 through August 18)<\/strong> The Milwaukee Brewers have elevated their game to a new level and staked a solid lead in the National League Central. The Cards have to step up, too, if they don\u2019t want to fall out of the race.<\/p>\n St. Louis got some great pitching efforts earlier this season from guys like Kyle Lohse and Jaime Garcia but it seems like every starter has regressed in the second half. The Cards miss Adam Wainwright more than ever now.<\/p>\n Jake Westbrook will show up to eat innings and collect his paycheck on Sunday night. With a 3.63 ERA after the All-Star break compared to 5.34 before it, he\u2019s one of the only Cardinals pitcher to improve of late. But the Cubbies have not been kind to him. Westbrook is 0-2 with nine earned runs over 8.1 innings pitched against them this season.<\/p>\n Chicago Cubs (54-70 through August 18)<\/strong> The Cubs are just playing out the string \u2013 and manager Mike Quade is waiting for the axe to fall on his neck \u2013 after playing themselves out of the NL Central race months ago. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/p>\n They\u2019ll trot Rodrigo Lopez to the hill on Sunday night. He\u2019s won two straight starts \u2013 but those victories came against lowly Washington and Houston. The powerful St. Louis bats are a different story. The Cards absolutely mash Lopez historically, tagging him for 10 homers and a .342 average over just 36.1 innings, giving him a 6.44 ERA.<\/p>\n Under is 7-2-2 in STL last 11 overall. While Lopez has handled Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman reasonably well in his career, he can\u2019t say the same about Matt Holliday or Rafael Furcal. Holliday is 5 for 12 (.417) against Lopez, with all five of his knocks being extra-base hits. Furcal bats .385 with two homers and seven RBI in 26 at-bats against Lopez.<\/p>\n Since he struggles so badly against St. Louis, I expect Lopez to sink the Cubbies in the Sunday nighter. Westbrook likely won\u2019t be much better but should do just enough to win.<\/p>\n
\nDate: <\/strong>Sunday, August 21, 2001
\nVenue: <\/strong>Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
\nBroadcast: <\/strong>ESPN
\nSt. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs Betting Lines from Sportsbook.com<\/strong>
\nMoney Line: Cards -128<\/strong>
\nOver\/Under: 8.5<\/strong>
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\nJake Westbrook (9-7, 4.81)<\/p>\n
\nRodrigo Lopez (4-3, 4.66)<\/p>\nMLB Trends:<\/h3>\n
\nUnder is 7-2-2 in STL last 11 on grass.
\nSTL are 2-6 in Westbrooks last 8 starts on grass.
\nCHC are 6-20 in their last 26 Sun. games.
\nCHC are 14-5 in their last 19 overall.
\nCHC are 14-5 in their last 19 games on grass.
\nOver is 9-3-1 in the last 13 meetings.<\/p>\nFree MLB pick:<\/h3>\n