Two long-time rivals will do battle this weekend as the Chicago Cubs visit Busch Stadium to take on the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cubs main focus down the stretch will be to get a look at some developing talent and to play the role of spoiler. For the Cardinals, they have a half-dozen game lead in the NL Central and look in line to return to the playoffs yet again. The pitching matchup on Friday night will feature Adrian Sampson (1-4, 3.97) of the Cubs taking on southpaw Jordan Montgomery (7-3, 3.28) of the Cardinals. First pitch is scheduled for 8:15pm EST.
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The Chicago Cubs have not been competitive in a couple of seasons after selling off the majority of their veteran assets that led them to the team's first world series in over a century in 2016. Now, six years later, the team will need to start showing progress or the natives may begin to get restless once again at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. The Cubs come in having lost six of their last ten games including losing two of three to the Blue Jays in Toronto. On Wednesday, they avoided a three-game sweep with a 7-5 win. Franmil Reyes helped the Cubs cause with a home run.
August ends with a W.
Reyes: HR, 2 R
Hoerner: 2B, 2 RBI@Vegas pic.twitter.com/dfqD5f8Dkf— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 1, 2022
The Cubs pitching has been particularly abysmal this season. They are 27th in baseball in quality starts with just 29 and they are just 23rd in ERA overall. The Cubs bullpen, once an asset, has been decimated by trades at the deadline and they now field a fairly inexperienced and ineffective unit. On the hill on Friday night will be right-hander Adrian Sampson. Sampson will be making his 13th start in 15 appearances this season. He is 1-2 in his last five starts with a 4.43 ERA. In that span, he has allowed 29 hits in 22.1 innings pitched. He has faced the Cardinals twice this season and he is 0-1 with an ERA of 7.56. He has allowed 12 hits in just 8.1 innings pitched against the Cards thus far.