The Chicago Cubs are now heading to St. Louis to battle another division foe in the postseason. After taking down the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game, the Cubs have a date with the Cardinals in the NLDS.
St. Louis (100-62) finished the MLB season with the league's best record while the Cubs (97-65) finished with the third-best record. The two teams faced each other 19 times during the regular season and the Cardinals were victorious for 11 of those matchups, but four of those wins were decided by one run.
The Cubs will send Jon Lester (11-2, 3.34 ERA) to the mound to face Cardinals' right-hander John Lackey (13-10, 2.77 ERA) in Game 1 at Busch Stadium. Both starters have extensive postseason resumes: Lester is 6-4 with a 2.57 ERA in 14 career games (12 starts) and Lackey is 7-5 with a 3.08 ERA in 21 career games (18 starts).
Both have two World Series rings, including one from their 2013 run with the Boston Red Sox.
Chicago comes into this series on a nine-game win streak, including a 50-25 record in the second half of the season. On the other hand, the Cardinals are just 15-17 since the beginning of September and experienced their worst stretch of the year just a few weeks ago.
Despite a 1-3 record, Lester has had success against the Cardinals this year. He owns a 2.59 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in five starts against St. Louis, including a 1.29 ERA at Busch Stadium. To say Lackey had had success against the Cubs would be an understatement. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.25 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in three starts versus Chicago in 2015.
In a battle of former teammates, this will be among the best pitching matchups of the postseason.
The Cubs come into the series healthy and with an offense that has been on fire. Behind Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and others, the Cubs ranked fifth in the MLB (second in the NL) with 141 runs scored over the past month.
On the other hand, St. Louis has not been at their best. The MLB's top club ranked 23rd in runs scored to close out the final month of the season and they'll be without their top two starters - Adam Wainwright and Carlos Martinez - in the rotation for the postseason (Wainwright will work out of the bullpen).
Additionally, although Yadier Molina will be starting tonight, it's unknown if he's 100% healthy after suffering a partial ligament tear in his thumb in late September. The Cards will need him to be at full strength, considering they went 0-3 without him last postseason after he injured his oblique.
Tune in to TBS at 6:30 p.m. ET to watch the Cubs continue their quest for their first World Series since 1908 while the Cardinals look to maintain their supremacy in the MLB.
Click here for tonight's lineups.
Check out the live stream for tonight's game here as well as the radio broadcast here (STL) or here (CHC).
