Chicago Cubs look to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals

If you are among those who bet the Chicago Cubs to go OVER their season win total, time is running out.  Bookmaker had its number at 82 in mid-March, meaning Chicago will need to go 28-10 the rest of the way to just get a push on those wagers. 

Time is also starting to run out on the St. Louis Cardinals as they head to Wrigley Field to battle the Cubs this weekend.  St. Louis starts the series 6.5-games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central Division standings.  Should the Brewers play a game under .500 the remainder of their schedule, Tony La Russa and the Cardinals will need to reel off a 25-13 run just to tie.

That puts the pressure on St. Louis when this series starts Friday afternoon and closes with ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball telecast. 

The Cardinals limp into Chicago having dropped five of their last nine and beginning the current 6-game trip by losing two of three in Pittsburgh.  La Russa and his crew can't sit and hope the Brewers will play .500 ball the rest of the way, especially with the torrid pace Milwaukee has been on lately. 

Chicago, on the other hand, is simply playing out the schedule and would love nothing more than to be a fly in the ointment to both division rivals the rest of the way, starting with the Redbirds the next three days. 

Game 1 - Friday, 2:20 PM (ET) 

St. Louis opened at -155 chalk on the MLB odds board for the opener behind starting pitcher Jaime Garcia (10-6, 3.42) who will take on the Cubs' Randy Wells (4-4, 5.90).   It's a huge contest for both Garcia, who has struggled his last four starts, and St. Louis who doesn't want to get the series off on a losing note. 

Garcia owns a 6.00 ERA his last four outings but will be facing a Cubs order he's beaten twice in '11.  He beat the Cubs here at Wrigley back in May with seven strong innings on a -150 moneyline and won again at home in June priced at -165 with eight more strong innings. 

A big money winner in Garcia's starts has been the OVER.  Sixteen of his 25 trips to the bump have cashed above the number. 

There's a similar trend in Wells' starts this season with the OVER trending 9-5-1 in his mound assignments, including the last three. 

Wells has sprinkled three good outings and one horrible start with two so-so games since the All-Star break.  He was one pitch to Albert Pujols away from having a fine game in St. Louis in June.  He took a no-decision and the Cards scored an extra-inning win as -175 chalk. 

Friday's Results: The Cubs rallied late to tie it at 4 in the 8th, and eventually get the winning run in the 10th.

The rest of the weekend 

Saturday's contest will be part of the FOX regional broadcast (4:10 PM) and pits Edwin Jackson (2-1, 4.62) against Matt Garza (5-9, 3.80) on the mound. 

Jackson makes his third start against the Cubs this season, and second as a member of the Cardinals rotation.  He spread seven hits and two walks over seven innings about three weeks ago in St. Louis for a win at home over Chicago in his St. Louis debut.  He also got the "W" while pitching for the White Sox on July 1 at Wrigley, 6-4 as a -115 favorite vs. Randy Wells. 

It might be time for baseball bettors to raise the white flag on Garza, especially when he pitches at Wrigley.  He is simply cursed with low run support and the "one bad inning syndrome" overall, and Chicago has won just one of his last five home starts despite Garza having a 1.75 ERA in those games. 

The Cubs have never won two consecutive Garza starts all season, and they're coming off a win in Atlanta his last time out. 

Saturday's Results: This game was all Chicago, as the Cubs took the 3-0 win after posting 3 runs in the 4th inning.

The weekend concludes Sunday on ESPN (5:00 PM) with Jake Westbrook (9-7, 4.81) going against an unnamed Chicago hurler.  All signs point to Rodrigo Lopez (4-3, 4.66) going for the Cubs on what would be normal rest thanks to Thursday's off day.  If it is Lopez, he's done a fair job in his recent starts at Wrigley.  The Cubs have beaten Westbrook twice this season already. 

Taking a Chance: Totals won't be posted until early Friday morning at most shops since it's taking place at Wrigley, but all signs point to a pretty nice afternoon on the North Side.  A few clouds, light breeze blowing out to left.  I expect at least 10.5 for the total and like the OVER with Garcia and the St. Louis bullpen a little leaky to help jump the number.  St. Louis has to win this series while the Brewers are on the road in hopes of closing the gap a little, and I fully expect their offense to score 18 or more runs in this series.