St. Louis Cardinals

The Cubs enjoyed a two-game sweep of the Southsidees on their way to a 50-51 record. That puts them a game within .500 and 6 games behind the Brewers in the Nl Central. They visit the Cardinals for a four-game weekend series ending just short of the trade deadline. The Cards would surely like to spoil the Cubs' hopes for 2023 as a consolation for their own disappointing season. Matchups for this pivotal series await below.

Game 102, Thursday, July 27, 6:45 pm central
CHC: LHP Justin Steele (10-3, 2.95 ERA)
STL: RHP Miles Mikolas (6-5, 4.33 ERA)

The Cubs stand at 45-50 as the Cardinals come to Chicago for a four-game series. This one will close on July 23, roughly one week prior to the trade deadline, and could either seal the Cubs' position as sellers or put them into another precarious week as they attempt to convince a reticent sounding front office and ownership. See below for the daily matchups as they stand now.

Game 96, Thursday, July 20, 7:05 pm central
STL: LHP Steven Matz (0-7, 4.86 ERA)
CHC: RHP Marcus Stroman (10-6, 2.88 ERA)

The Cubs and Cardinals travel to London to show off the Great American Pastime across the pond. With extra days off to accommodate travel, the Cubs are able to line up their top starting pitchers and hold Drew Smyly for a potential relief appearance. See below for matchupa.

Game 75, Saturday, June 24, 12:10 pm central
CHC: LHP Justin Steele (7-2, 2.71 ERA)
STL: RHP Adam Wainwright (3-1, 5.56 ERA)

The Cubs staged multiple comebacks but came up just short of a sweep against the Marlins. Next they greet an underperforming Cardinals team for three games at Wrigley. The Cards just ended an eight-game skid and must be desperate to claw their way back into the division race. Former Cubs Willson Contreras might be at the center if the drama this weekend as his defensive role is under discussion. See below for matchups.

More after the jump...

I found some old photos in a box.

Crappy, from an old point and shoot in the pre-digital days.

I asked a buddy if he thought that was crazy Mitch Williams on the mound for the Cubs, he said he thought it was Rod Beck.

And then I simply had to find out what the shots were from.

I scanned 'em at high resolution and you know what? Fuzzy shots scanned at high resolution still look pretty fuzzy. But blown way up you'll see two #30's (starting pitchers) in the shot of the scoreboard. That would be Geremi Gonzalez and Todd Stottlmyre. 

The batters, of course you'll remember Cardinal  #25 and Cub #21.

Tuesday night in St. Louis...

Joel Piniero, coming off three consecutive losses, recorded the Cardinals' first complete-game shutout of the season. He faced only 28 hitters, threw only 28 non-strikes (never reaching a three-ball count), only allowed one man into scoring position, and dispatched the Cubs in 125 minutes, the Cards' fastest game in almost three years.

Rookie Colby Rasmus, who had just two singles in 25 AB against lefthanded pitching this season, bashed a 2-run homer off of Ted Lilly.

I encountered a number of Cardinals fans heading for Chicago Union Station during this evening's rush hour. I thought about making a smart remark or two in their direction, but I held back.

It's the middle of April, there are two games left in this series, and they're still in first place.

Besides, those Saint Louis-bound fans were going to be dealing with Amtrak for the next five and a half hours.

A person should only be subjected to so much grief in a single day.

Cubs centerfielder Jim Edmonds, whose return to St. Louis Friday night was honored by Cardinals fans if not by Tony La Russa, shared a revelation with Gordon Wittenmyer of the Sun-Times:

Edmonds would have been traded to the White Sox this past December if he hadn't exercised his right to block such a deal.