Cubs at Cardinals 6/17/18 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Chicago Cubs conclude their three-game series on the road against National League Central rivals the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

The Cubs beat the Cardinals in the opening game of the series 13-5 on Friday. Kris Bryant hit his first home run in 24 games, while Kyle Schwarber and Ian Happ also hit homers in the Cubs’ rout. Jon Lester pitched four shutout innings to extend his scoreless streak to 17 straight innings before allowing a solo homer to Marcell Ozuna. Lester raised his record to 8-2 with the win giving up two runs over six innings. Anthony Rizzo added three hits for Chicago in the win. Michael Wacha was hit hard and fell to 8-2 on the season giving up eight earned runs and nine overall, which was a career high. Jose Martinez remains out on paternity leave for the Cardinals. Albert Almora Jr. has a team high .321 batting average for Chicago. Javier Baez leads the team in home runs with 14 and RBIs with 46. Chicago has a team batting average of .260 while opposing hitters are averaging .216 at the plate against Cubs pitching. On Sunday, the Cubs will send Jose Quintana to the mound. The left-hander his season is 6-4 with an ERA of 4.09, 70 Ks and 33 BBs.

With Jose Martinez out, Marcell Ozuna leads the Cardinals with a batting average at .291. Tommy Pham has the home run lead at 10 and the RBI lead in Martinez’s absence is held by Ozuna with 38 (Martinez 42). St. Louis has a team batting average of .243 while opposing hitters are averaging .241 at the plate against Cardinals pitching. On Sunday, the Cardinals will send Jack Flaherty to the mound. The right-hander on the season is 3-2 with an ERA of 2.96, 48 Ks and 11 BBs.