Cubs @ Cards: Series Thread (Games 55-57)

The Cubs swoop into St. Louis to pick off a few Cardinals this weekend. Kris Bryant and I hope every Cubs player gets boo'd this weekend!

The Cubs have dropped six out of their last ten games, but they remain atop the NL central and 4.5 games ahead of the Cards. Bryant returned to the lineup on Wednesday as DH, after taking some time off to recover from an outfield collision with Heyward. Javy played the field on Wednesday, but he played 3rd base after DH-ing a few games to rest his injured heel. The Cubs have been on a heck of a homerun streak, but have only occasionally translated that into a win. On Wednesday, Kyle Hendricks's strong performance helped the Cubs take advantage of early homeruns by Schwarber and Bryant.The Cardinals are sliding just under .500 at 27-28. They haven't won a series since before their sweep at the hands of the Cubs during the first weekend of May! Since then, they've lost two series each to the Phillies and Atlanta, as well as one series to the Rangers and another to the Pirates. They split a double-header with Kansas City. On the season, they are 15th in the majors in both runs scored and wRC+. They're pitching is also middle of the pack in terms of ERA. Yadier Molina is day-to-day with a thumb injury.

See game-by-game notes below:

Game 55: First pitch 7:15pmCDT
CHC: RHP Yu Darvish (2-3, 5.40 ERA)
STL: RHP Miles Mikolas (4-5, 4.76 ERA)

Last time out, we got bad Yu. But we got a different version of bad Yu, so that's something! He threw a lot of strikes and the Reds responded by swinging a lot. It worked out, for the Reds--they collected 12 hits and 6 earned runs. He was also sent out for the beginning of the 8th inning to, I think, everyone's surprise. He allowed five earned runs in four innings against the Cards on May 4. Taylor Davis saved that particular day.

Miles Mikolas dodged the Cubs earlier in the month. He went seven decent innings in a loss against Atlanta last time out, allowing three earned runs on seven hits, two homeruns. The start before that he exited in the second, allowing seven earned runs as things went off the rails in Texas. Javy is 3-11 off of him with a homerun. Rizzo is 4-11.

Game 56: First pitch 6:15pmCDT
CHC: LHP José Quintana (4-4, 3.73 ERA)
STL: RHP Jack Flaherty (4-3, 3.77 ERA)

Quintana followed six shutout innings against the Phillies by allowing six runs, five earned, in 5.1 innings against the Reds. It was the first time he'd allowed more than 3 runs in a start since his April 5th clunker against Milwaukee. He had a hard time getting the ball by anybody, allowing 12 hits and striking out only 2. He beat the Cards on May 5, allowing two earned runs in six innings. Goldschmidt, Fowler, and Ozuna have absolutely wrecked him. Maddon might want to start a reliever in left and just Waxahachie swap for those plate appearances.

Jack Flaherty is very good and I kind of hate it. He pitched six shutout innings against Atlanta last time. He lost to Cubs on May third through little fault of his own; he allowed three earned runs in 5.2 innings despite striking out nine. Rizzo tagged him for a three-run homerun following walks to Descalso and Bryant.

Game 57: First pitch 1:15pmCDT
CHC: LHP Cole Hamels (4-1, 4.02 ERA)
STL: RHP Adam Wainwright (4-5, 4.94 ERA)

Hamels didn't have much going for him last time, allowing six earned runs on four walks and no strikeouts in four innings against the Astros. It's his first really rough start since March, but he's been struggling with inconsistent command going back to the end of April. He's been able to battle and work around that issue in other starts, but it really caught up to him against the Houston lineup. He posted his lowest zone percentage and first pitch strike percentage of any single start in 2019. He didn't pitch in the last Cubs-Cards series, Ozuna is 9-32 with three homeruns off of him.

Honestly, y'all. I'm not really enjoying Wainwright's decline anymore. His 4.94 ERA isn't even out of character with his performances after his 2015 injury. I sort of admire the way in which he's managed to continue to be a good enough MLB pitcher even though he's nowhere near the kind of starter he was before that injury. Anywho, he he allowed four earned runs despite ten strikeouts against the Phillies last time out. The Cubs contributed six earned runs to his decline on May 5, but he allowed only five hits and two walks while pitching into the sixth. Willson hit a solo homerun off of him. He's 3-13 with three walks and two homeruns off of Wainwright. Addison Russell is 7-18.

The forecast looks good for this weekend.

The Cubs will see the Cardinals again in less than a week, June 7-9.