The Chicago Cubs (66-48) and the St. Louis Cardinals (58-58) square off in the first of a three-game series on Friday at Busch Stadium, starting at 8:15 p.m. ET. The favored Cubs (-159) are coming off of a 1-2 series loss to the Reds, and the underdog Cardinals (+133) head into the matchup after a 2-1 series win over the Dodgers. Chicago’s Matthew Boyd and St. Louis’ Michael McGreevy will start this matchup.

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Cubs vs. Cardinals betting lines

• Favorite: Cubs (-159)
• Underdog: Cardinals (+133)
• Over/under: 8.5

Cubs betting info, hitting leaders, & pitching

Cubs betting info

• The Cubs have been the moneyline favorite 80 total times this season. They’ve gone 53-27 in those games.
• When playing as moneyline favorites with odds of -159 or shorter, Chicago has a 25-11 record (winning 69.4% of its games).
• Based on this matchup’s moneyline, the Cubs’ implied win probability is 61.4%.
• Chicago has combined with opponents to go over the total 57 times this season for a 57-52-5 record against the over/under.
• The Cubs have put together a 55-59-0 record ATS this season.

Cubs hitting info

• Kyle Tucker has 21 doubles, four triples, 18 home runs and 75 walks while batting .271.
• Tucker ranks 48th in homers and 48th in RBI among all hitters in MLB.
• Pete Crow-Armstrong has hit 27 home runs to pace his team.
• Among all MLB hitters, Crow-Armstrong ranks seventh in homers and ninth in RBI.
• Seiya Suzuki leads the Cubs with 27 home runs and 84 runs batted in.
• Nico Hoerner has a club-best .292 batting average.

Cubs pitching rankings

• The pitching staff for the Cubs has a collective 7.6 K/9, the third-worst in the majors.
• Chicago’s 3.90 team ERA ranks 16th across all MLB pitching staffs.
• Cubs pitchers combine for the No. 5 WHIP in baseball (1.216).
• Cubs pitchers combine to surrender 144 total home runs at a clip of 1.3 per game (23rd-fewest in baseball).
• Chicago took down the Reds 6-1 in its last game with 12 strikeouts while allowing four hits.

Cardinals betting info, hitting leaders, & pitching

Cardinals betting info

• The Cardinals have won 30, or 49.2%, of the 61 games they’ve played as underdogs this season.
• St. Louis has a record of 7-13, a 35% win rate, when it’s set as an underdog of +133 or more by bookmakers this season.
• The implied probability of a win by the Cardinals, based on the moneyline, is 42.9%.
• St. Louis and its opponents have hit the over in 58 of its 115 games with a total this season.
• The Cardinals are 61-54-0 against the spread this season.

Cardinals hitting info

• Brendan Donovan leads St. Louis with a batting average of .280. He’s also hit nine home runs with 43 RBI.
• Among all hitters in MLB, Donovan is 167th in home runs and 133rd in RBI.
• Alec Burleson is batting .279 with an OBP of .333 and a slugging percentage of .450 this season.
• Burleson is 93rd in homers and 83rd in RBI among all MLB batters this year.
• Willson Contreras leads St. Louis in home runs with 16 and runs batted in with 64.
• Contreras brings a two-game hitting streak into this game. In his last five games he is hitting .294 with a double, two home runs, two walks and three RBIs.
• Masyn Winn has 106 hits and an OBP of .325 to go with a slugging percentage of .392 this season.

Cardinals pitching rankings

• The Cardinals strike out just 7.4 batters per nine innings as a pitching staff, which ranks 29th in MLB.
• St. Louis pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.22 ERA this year, which ranks 20th in MLB.
• Cardinals pitchers have a 1.288 WHIP this season, 17th in the majors.
• The Cardinals have allowed the fifth-fewest home runs this season at just 113, or 1.0 per game.
• Last time out, St. Louis defeated the Dodgers, 5-3, with six strikeouts and eight hits allowed.