The St. Louis Cardinals are slowly getting out of their offensive slump, but it still was not enough to beat the Chicago Cubs and instead the team fell to their fourth straight defeat, a season high. The team is failing to get the bats moving and supporting the rare quality pitching performances from their starters and the Chicago Cubs took advantage of it in the first game of the series. Can they do as again?
Shelby Miller would love some run support from his teammates, something the Cardinals have not been offering up. He is went through a rough stretch before taking a visit to the bullpen and now returns as a starter. In his first nine starts, he was 6-2 with a 2.79 ERA. However, the 10 after that he went 1-6 with a 5.65ERA. He has been even worse in his past three, going 0-3 with a 7.30 ERA. St. Louis is not exactly helping him with run support. Miller is coming off a performance where he pitched a scoreless inning from the bullpen. He still sits at the top of the rankings in walks allowed.
The Cubs have found success at home. They have split a four-game homestand after losing 11 of their past 13 games. They will start Jake Arrieta who is 5-2 with a 2.12 ERA on the season. He has one loss in his last nine starts and most recently gave up three runs to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Chicago is trying to build off success at the plate, something that has been rare for them.
Arrieta could do well against the Cardinals. He is 1-0 with an 0.55 in three starts against the National League rivals. However, Johnny Peralta is 5 for 10 off him while Matt Adams is 4 for 5.
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