David Troy
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Cubs vs. Cardinals 1:10 ET
London is hosting a baseball game. I’m not sure what exactly the market is for baseball in London, but we shall see. Either way, this is a long way for the Cubs and Cardinals to travel for two baseball games. It probably would make more sense to do this around the All-Star break or at the beginning or end of the season. Nonetheless, I do enjoy these games, and I’m looking to enjoy it a bit more as we take another unit home.
The Cubs are probably a little disappointed to be leaving the United States as they were playing some of their best baseball of the season. I’ve mentioned that all of the NL Central has a chance to win the division this season and I very much include the Cubs in that discussion. They have the pitching to be competitive in the playoffs too. They just need to find a way to get there. Beating the Cardinals today would be a decent enough help for right now. Justin Steele is taking the ball and leading the way for the Cubs. He started the year looking like a Cy Young candidate and even with some May struggles, he looked good overall. He returned to the rotation after a small trip to the injured list and was able to post five innings of just two earned runs allowed against the Baltimore Orioles. Cardinals hitters have had success against Steele in the past as he’s allowed them to hit .326 against him. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Paul Goldschmidt collect a hit or two off of him.
The Cardinals are an abomination of a baseball team. If any team could use a good stretch of baseball, it is St. Louis. They also were finally starting to play a bit better as they won four of their past five games. But that came on the heels of losing six straight games and a five-game losing streak before that. Over that time they lost 11 of 13 games. I’m interested to see what will happen with the squad – I keep waiting for them to take a turn for the positive, but it hasn’t happened yet. They have arguably their best pitcher for this particular situation. Adam Wainwright is pitching for the Cardinals and he is a big-game pitcher. This will be nationally televised, and obviously is a special game, being in London, so this qualifies. In what is likely his last season, Wainwright has played decent overall. He was able to post a quality start in his last outing. The issue is that he has allowed at least three earned runs in all but one of his nine starts this season.
I actually lean towards the under 14.5 in this game. It might not come as a shock as I tend to take more unders than overs, but that total is a bit high for these two pitchers. The dimensions of the park aren’t that much different than an American field. I think the Cubs win this game though. Both of the teams are playing good baseball. So what is the way to play it? I’m putting a half unit on the Cubs and half on the under 14.5.
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