Cardinals face the Cubs with 1-0 series lead

Chicago Cubs (66-49, second in the NL Central) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (59-58, fourth in the NL Central)

St. Louis; Saturday, 7:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Colin Rea (8-5, 4.23 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 79 strikeouts); Cardinals: Andre Pallante (6-8, 4.57 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 80 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cubs -170, Cardinals +143; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals lead 1-0 in a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs.

St. Louis has a 33-24 record in home games and a 59-58 record overall. The Cardinals have gone 32-14 in games when they did not give up a home run.

Chicago has gone 30-27 in road games and 66-49 overall. Cubs hitters have a collective .437 slugging percentage to rank third in the majors.

Saturday’s game is the ninth meeting between these teams this season. The season series is tied 4-4.

TOP PERFORMERS: Brendan Donovan has 24 doubles and nine home runs while hitting .278 for the Cardinals. Willson Contreras is 7 for 35 with a double and two home runs over the past 10 games.

Kyle Tucker has 21 doubles, four triples and 18 home runs for the Cubs. Nico Hoerner is 12 for 37 with a double, a home run and five RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 5-5, .245 batting average, 3.83 ERA, outscored by three runs

Cubs: 4-6, .226 batting average, 4.03 ERA, outscored by six runs

INJURIES: Cardinals: Nolan Arenado: 10-Day IL (shoulder), John King: 15-Day IL (oblique), Zack Thompson: 60-Day IL (lat)

Cubs: Mike Soroka: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Miguel Amaya: 60-Day IL (oblique), Jameson Taillon: 15-Day IL (calf), Eli Morgan: 60-Day IL (elbow), Javier Assad: 60-Day IL (oblique), Justin Steele: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.