Chicago Cubs (66-48, second in the NL Central) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (58-58, fourth in the NL Central)
St. Louis; Friday, 7:15 p.m. CDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Matthew Boyd (11-4, 2.34 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 118 strikeouts); Cardinals: Michael McGreevy (3-2, 5.08 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 23 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cubs -154, Cardinals +128; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals host the Chicago Cubs on Friday to begin a three-game series.
St. Louis is 32-24 at home and 58-58 overall. The Cardinals have the 10th-ranked team ERA in the NL at 4.22.
Chicago is 66-48 overall and 30-26 on the road. The Cubs have a 28-10 record in games when they did not give up a home run.
The teams square off Friday for the eighth time this season. The Cubs are up 4-3 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Alec Burleson has 19 doubles, 14 home runs and 50 RBIs while hitting .279 for the Cardinals. Masyn Winn is 11 for 37 with three doubles and a home run over the past 10 games.
Kyle Tucker has 21 doubles, four triples and 18 home runs for the Cubs. Nico Hoerner is 13 for 37 with a double and a home run over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 4-6, .223 batting average, 4.76 ERA, outscored by 15 runs
Cubs: 5-5, .227 batting average, 3.89 ERA, even run differential
INJURIES: Cardinals: Nolan Arenado: 10-Day IL (shoulder), John King: 15-Day IL (oblique), Zack Thompson: 60-Day IL (lat)
Cubs: Mike Soroka: day-to-day (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.