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The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals square off on Tuesday with first pitch set for 7:45 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Keegan Thompson (8-4, 3.16 ERA) will throw for the Cubs with Adam Wainwright (7-8, 3.28 ERA) on the mound for the Cardinals.
Chicago (41-60) will look to avoid a third consecutive loss after losing the final two games of its series against the San Francisco Giants over the weekend. Thompson will make his 22nd appearance and 14th start of 2022 and is coming off an outing where he allowed just two unearned runs over seven innings in a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs rank No. 10 in on-base percentage (.318), and Patrick Wisdom will enter play as the team’s leader in home runs (19) and RBIs (50).
St. Louis (54-48) is three games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the top spot in the NL Central and won three of its last four games heading into this series. Wainwright made 20 starts so far this season at age 40 and is coming off a strong performance in which he gave up one run over seven innings with eight strikeouts in a win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The Cardinals have the seventh-best on-base percentage (.321), led by Paul Goldschmidt, who has -150 odds to win the National League MVP.
Cubs vs. Cardinals
Pitchers: Keegan Thompson vs. Adam Wainwright
First pitch: 7:45 p.m. ET
Cubs local broadcast: Marquee Sports Network
Cardinals local broadcast: Bally Sports Midwest
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Odds, picks & predictions
Run Line: Cardinals -1.5 (+120)
Run total: 8.5
Moneyline odds: Cardinals -175, Cubs +150
Moneyline pick: Cubs +150
It feels like this game should be more of a toss-up than oddsmakers are suggesting. Both pitchers have extremely similar numbers and while the Cardinals are the better offensive team, the Cubs could be worth the risk at these odds with home-field advantage.
Player prop pick: Adam Wainwright Over 4.5 strikeouts (-135)
The Cardinals starter has never been an elite strikeout thrower over his 17-year career, and he has just a 7.2 K/9 in 2022. However, he has a solid shot at getting to five strikeouts on Tuesday night. The Cubs strike out 8.9 times per game, which is the fifth most in the league. Wainwright does not have many short starts, and he should be on the mound long enough to exceed this total.
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