Cardinals-Cubs Preview

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs will meet on the field at Wrigley Field on Friday in a battle of division rivals. Righthander Braden Looper will take the mound for the Cardinals to start this game. Looper is 10-9 this season with a 4.29 ERA. Starting this game for the Cubs will be Ted Lilly. The lefthander has a 4.35 ERA to go along with a 11-6 record this season. NewBodog oddsmakers currently have the Cubs listed as 160-moneyline favorites versus the Cardinals, while the game's total has not yet been posted. The Cardinals failed to complete a three-game sweep on Thursday, as they dropped the finale 4-1 to the Dodgers. The game's five runs fell UNDER the day's posted over/under (8.5). Cesar Izturis went 2-for-4 at the plate with one RBI for the Cardinals, who were favored at -130 in that game. Kyle Lohse gave up four runs in seven innings of work in suffering the loss. Mark DeRosa belted a grand slam home run as the Cubs ripped apart the Astros 11-4 as -170 favorites on Wednesday. The 15 runs made it OVER the posted over/under (10). DeRosa finished 2-for-3 at the plate with five RBIs, and Alfonso Soriano smacked a three-run shot for the Cubs. Jason Marquis tossed 6 1-3 innings for the win, allowing four runs off six hits. Current streak: Chicago has won 2 straight games. Team records: St. Louis: 64-53 SU Chicago: 69-46 SU St. Louis most recently: When playing on Friday are 7-3 Before playing Chi Cubs are 4-6 After playing LA Dodgers are 5-5 After a loss are 5-5 Chicago most recently: When playing on Friday are 5-5 Before playing St. Louis are 5-5 After playing Houston are 6-4 After a win are 7-3 A few trends to consider: The total has gone OVER in 5 of St. Louis's last 5 games on the road St. Louis is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road The total has gone UNDER in 6 of St. Louis's last 9 games when playing Chi Cubs St. Louis is 6-13 SU in their last 19 games when playing Chi Cubs Chi Cubs are 9-2 SU in their last 11 games Chi Cubs are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games at home The total has gone OVER in 8 of Chi Cubs's last 11 games Chi Cubs are 13-5 SU in their last 18 games when playing at home against St. Louis Next up: Chi Cubs home to St. Louis, Saturday, August 9