The commercial deadline of July 31 will be imminent when the Cardinals of St. Louis on Visit begin a series of three games against the Chicago Rivals Cubs on Friday.
Chicago leads the Central National League by four games during the second place Milwaukee Brewers, while St. Louis has 5 1/2 games in the division and is in equality for three for the third point of Joker NL.
The Cubs finished a scan of three games from the Cleveland Guardians with a 1-0 victory on Thursday. Matt Shaw delivered a walking sacrifice fly during the 10th round to help Chicago prevail for the sixth time in the last eight games.
“It’s so fun,” said Shaw in an post-match interview. “We have a big team, and it’s great.”
St. Louis experienced a day off Thursday after being excluded in three consecutive games while being swept by Pittsburgh Pirates.
“Obviously, the series is frustrating, but it is only a little blow on the radar of 162 (games),” said St. Louis, Brendan Donovan. “So, is it frustrating? Absolutely. But they just beat us. They play a good ball. We were playing a good ball and they closed us, so we are in Chicago.”
The opening of the Friday series presents a pair of right-handers while the Mikolas de Miles des Cardinals (4-5, 4.76 ERA) face Colin Rea de Chicago (5-3, 4.37).
Mikolas, 36, granted six points in four rounds during a decision without a decision against the Guardians on Saturday.
Mikolas, who has an MPM of 6.90 with 43 strokes authorized in 30 rounds during his last six departures, stressed the importance of the series with the commercial deadline approached quickly.
“To find out if this series is going well, maybe you are in the situation where you are looking to make this good push,” he said. “And if things are not going well, you could be one of those teams that seek to raise these young people. You can certainly go in both directions. … Makes each game a little more important.”
Nico Hoerner is 13-in-33 (.394) and Ian Happ is 13 for 40 (0.325) against Mikolas, who has 6-6 with an MPM of 3.17 in 23 career games (21 departures) against the Cubs.
Rea, 35, granted two points in five rounds in a 12-3 victory against the Houston Astros on Saturday. He rebounded after abandoning four circuits, 11 strokes and seven points in 5 1/3 rounds against the Seattle Mariners during his previous departure.
Nolan Arenado is 1 for 10 against Rea, which is 1-3 with an MPM of 4.37 in nine career games (seven departures) against Saint-Louis.
Chicago will have two starters from the National League during the Star Match in Atlanta on July 15. The champion of the Pete Crow-Armstrong center received the honor of his second full season with Chicago. It strikes. 265 with 21 circuits, 64 products produced and 26 stolen bases.
“Of course, he went beyond expectations,” said Cubs director Craig Counsell. “He spends a wonderful season, and we are all happy for him that he got this recognition. It happened very quickly.”
Crow-Armstrong will be joined in the star match by right defender Kyle Tucker, who was appointed Starter for the first time in his career. The quadruple All-Star strikes .287 with 17 circuits, 52 products produced and 21 stolen bases during its first season with the Cubs.
– field level media
