Cubs at Cardinals
There’s always a little extra tension when the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals square off, and especially when the National League Central lead hangs in the balance. The Cubs host the first-place Cardinals for a three-game set starting Friday with both teams looking to continue their recent hot streaks.
The Cardinals had their five-game winning streak snapped with a 2-1 loss at Washington on Thursday, but have won 10 of their last 12 and lead the NL Central by 2 1/2 games over the Cubs. St. Louis held four regular starters - Paul Goldschmidt, Paul DeJong, Yadier Molina and Jose Martinez - out of the lineup for the finale against the Nationals, so they should be fresh for the big weekend series. Chicago has won four straight and 13 of its last 17 to make up ground after a slow start. The Cubs have played only six of their first 29 games against the division, but are entering a stretch in which nine of their next 13 games will be against division rivals.
TV: 2:20 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FS Midwest (St. Louis), NBCS Chicago
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Jack Flaherty (3-1, 4.06 ERA) vs. Cubs RH Kyle Hendricks (1-4, 5.33)
Flaherty is coming off his deepest outing of the season as he threw seven scoreless innings to beat Cincinnati on Sunday. The 23-year-old has won three of his last four starts and has 26 strikeouts and only three walks during that stretch. Flaherty is 1-1 with a 3.29 ERA in four games (three starts) against the Cubs.
Hendricks followed up his best start of the year - seven scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts against Arizona on April 19 - by allowing seven runs in five frames in a rematch with the Diamondbacks on Friday. The 29-year-old has pitched into the sixth only once in five starts. Hendricks is 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 14 starts against St. Louis.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Cubs reinstated SS Addison Russell from the restricted list Thursday and optioned him to Triple-A Iowa.
2. St. Louis expects to activate RHP Luke Gregerson at some point this weekend.
3. Cardinals OF Dexter Fowler (illness) returned to the clubhouse but was out of the lineup for a third straight day Thursday.