Cubs at Cardinals
Nicholas Castellanos is expected to make his team debut on Thursday as the Chicago Cubs visit the St. Louis Cardinals for the finale of their three-game series. Chicago acquired Castellanos from Detroit for two minor-leaguers prior to Wednesday's trade deadline.
Castellanos, who will be used in both right and left field, is batting .272 with a major-league high-tying 37 doubles, 10 home runs and 36 RBIs. "I'm very excited to be able to go to Chicago and help this team in a pennant race in any way that I can," Castellanos told reporters after learning of the trade immediately before the Tigers' game against the Los Angeles Angels. "But I also know that when all the excitement and everything slows down, I’ll miss everything that was in Detroit." The Cubs posted a 2-0 win on Wednesday to move into a first-place tie in the National League Central with the Cardinals, who lost for the third time in four games. St. Louis was blanked despite registering nine hits as it went just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, MLB Network, NBCS Chicago, FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cubs LH Jon Lester (9-6, 3.63 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Jack Flaherty (4-6, 4.17)
Lester did not factor in the decision against Milwaukee in his last turn, when he scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings. The 35-year-old has won six of his last eight decisions after experiencing a three-start losing streak during which he gave up 16 earned runs in 14 frames. Lester defeated the Cardinals on June 8, when he yielded four runs and five hits over six innings to improve to 8-5 with a 3.02 ERA in 19 career starts against the club.
Flaherty has gone 0-3 in 12 starts since winning on May 14 against Atlanta. The 23-year-old has allowed just four runs and 14 hits while registering 30 strikeouts over 24 1/3 innings in his last four turns. Flaherty is 0-1 with a 5.65 ERA in three starts against Chicago this season and 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in seven career contests (six starts) versus the team.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Cubs also acquired UTIL Tony Kemp from Houston for C Martin Maldonado and LHP Brad Wieck from San Diego for RHP Carl Edwards Jr. and international bonus pool money.
2. St. Louis traded INF Jedd Gyorko, cash considerations and bonus pool money to the Los Angeles Dodgers for LHP Tony Cingrani and RHP Jeffry Abreu.
3. Chicago will option 2B Robel Garcia to Triple-A Iowa on Thursday to open a roster spot for Castellanos.