Open Thread: Cubs vs. Cardinals, Friday 8/18, 1:20 CT

From 1996 through 2002, the Cubs were 38-58 against the Cardinals, including 13 consecutive losses in St. Louis from Oct. 3, 1999, until they finally broke that streak on June 20, 2001.

Since then, including this year, they are 36-29, including, as you know, winning all seven games at Wrigley Field played thus far in 2006.

Today's Starting Pitchers

C. Marmol Cubs vs. J. Marquis Cardinals 5-5 W-L 12-11 5.50 ERA 5.71 52 SO 73 55 BB 55 11 HR 28 vs. StL -- vs. Cubs

These two pitchers matched up the last time the Cardinals were at Wrigley Field on July 28, one of Marmol's better outings (even though he walked seven). The Cubs have battered Marquis around pretty good all year -- 23 hits in 14.2 innings over three starts; he's got a 7.36 ERA this year against the Cubs. And that includes a game he actually won, on June 4 in St. Louis.

There's a 50% chance of showers & thunderstorms here in Chicago today; I'm sure neither of these teams wants to play a doubleheader this weekend, so they'll do whatever they can to get the game in.

Incidentally, in case you have been wondering why Marmol's cap looks a little odd in these matchup boxes, it's because I usually link to Yahoo's player photos. Yahoo doesn't have a photo of Marmol available, so this one is from the Cubs' website -- and the Cub website photos are a bit larger than Yahoo's (62x75 pixels, as opposed to 50x60 for Yahoo), thus I have to squish them a little to make them match the Yahoo size.

Discuss amongst yourselves.