The St. Louis Cardinals are just 2-9 in their last 11 games against the Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals will look for better results in the first game of a three-game series against the Cubs starting this Friday.
Cubs vs. Cardinals 2018 odds: St. Louis a small betting favorite for Friday’s series opener
The St. Louis Cardinals host the Chicago Cubs in a key division rivalry series this weekend, with the Cards getting the slight nod at the sportsbooks in the series opener.
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The Cardinals are listed as small -120 betting favorites in the series opener at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Miles Mikolas will take the mound for the home team going up against Jose Quintana and the Cubs.
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals
When: Friday, May 4, 8:15 p.m. ET
Where: New Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
Betting Line / Total: St. Louis -120 / 8.5 Runs
St. Louis Cardinals
After getting off to a 2-4 start to the season at home, the Cardinals have gone 7-1 over their last eight home games including their sweep of the Chicago White Sox in a two-game series this week.
St. Louis has been winning games due to its excellent pitching staff, which has compiled a Team ERA of 3.32 that currently ranks fourth best in the majors. The Cardinals will likely need to improve on their offensive output of 4.55 runs per game if they hope to emerge as the best team out of the NL Central.
Since getting off to a rocky start with an ERA of 6.00 through his first two starts of the season, Miles Mikolas has settled in with an impressive 1.71 ERA and 0.71 WHIP over his last three. The Cardinals are 3-2 in Mikolas’s five starts this season per the OddsShark MLB Database.
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs shook off a mediocre start to the season of 7-8 to go 9-4 over their last 13 games, bringing their season record to 16-12.
The 9-4 stretch started with a 4-1 run in which the Cubs averaged 8.4 runs per game. But the bats have gone cold since then, producing a meager two runs per game over Chicago’s last eight. Chicago is 11-3 in Jose Quintana’s last 14 starts and 4-0 over his last four.
Friday’s total is set at 8.5 runs. The UNDER is 7-1 in Chicago’s last eight games.
Only two games separate the top four teams in the NL Central heading into Friday’s action, setting the stage for a potential dogfight in this division all season long. Luke Weaver and Tyler Chatwood are expected to take the hill on Saturday, with the series wrapping up on Sunday with Michael Wacha vs. Jon Lester.
For more odds information, betting picks and a breakdown of this week’s top sports betting news check out the OddsShark podcast with Jon Campbell and Andrew Avery. Subscribe on iTunes or listen to it at OddsShark.libsyn.com.
