Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals 9/4/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Chicago Cubs complete a three-game series on the road Sunday against the St Louis Cardinals. Chicago is 56-76 following its 8-0 loss to St Louis in the opening game of the series on Friday. Chicago has lost five of the last six and the Cubs are third in the National League Central, but a distant 21 games behind first place St. Louis and well out of playoff contention,

Shortstop Nico Hoerner is batting .285 to lead Chicago and third baseman Patrick Wisdom is the leader in home runs with 22. Left fielder Ian Happ is the leader in RBIs with 63 and hits with 130, while catcher Willson Contreras is the leader in on-base percentage .351. On Sunday, the Chicago Cubs will send Marcus Stroman to the mound. The right-hander is 3-6 with a 3.98 ERA, 85 Ks and 29 BBs. 

With its eight-run shutout victory over Chicago on Friday, St. Louis improved to 77-55. Jordan Montgomery pitched 6+ innings of shutout baseball and remains unbeaten after joining the Cardinals at the trade deadline. Tommy Edman and Lars Nootbaar each hit home runs for the Cardinals. St Louis is first in the National League Central, 7 ½ games ahead of the second-place Milwaukee Brewers.

First baseman Paul Goldschmidt is batting .330 with 33 home runs, 105 RBIs, 155 hits and an on base percentage of .417 to lead St Louis in each category. Third baseman Nolan Arenado is second in both home runs with 28 and RBIs with 89. On Sunday, the St Louis Cardinals will send Miles Mikolas to the mound. The right-hander is 10-10 with a 3.48 ERA, 124 Ks and 30 BBs