Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals Preview, Sunday 5/14, 1:15 CT

These were posted in the comments in Cub Tracks this morning, and I thought they needed wider attention:

#Cubs are 1-for-10 with RISP vs STL this series, and batting .216 for the season, lowest in NL and 4th lowest in MLB ...

— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) May 14, 2017

#Cubs also have 389 plate appearances with RISP, tied with Reds for most in NL and 2nd most in MLB

— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) May 14, 2017

So the Cubs have had plenty of baserunners and plenty of chances to convert with RISP. They just haven't done so -- yet. These kinds of things tend to even out over the course of a long season. Starting today wouldn't be a bad idea.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Schwarber LF, Happ RF, Rizzo 1B, Russell SS, Montero C, La Stella 3B, Baez 2B, Arrieta P, Almora CF

Here is today's #Cubs lineup for the finale in St. Louis.

Game preview: https://t.co/7U4x72WKUz pic.twitter.com/HWJEhlQXps

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 14, 2017

Cardinals lineup:

Wong 2B, Pham LF, Carpenter 1B, Gyorko 3B, Molina C, Díaz SS, Grichuk RF, Sierra CF, Wainwright P

Jake Arrieta vs. Adam Wainwright

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

No two ways about it, Jake Arrieta is having one of the worst stretches of his career. Over his last four starts he's posted a 7.65 ERA and 2.000 WHIP. However, in his earlier start against the Cardinals this year, April 4 in St. Louis, he threw six solid innings (four hits, one unearned run) and also singled. Another one like that, please.

This game is a pitching rematch of that April 4 game. Adam Wainwright allowed three hits and two runs to the Cubs in five innings that night, but it was enough for the Cubs to win the game. Since then Wainwright's numbers have been almost as bad as Arrieta's: six starts, 6.82 ERA, 2.011 WHIP in 30⅓ innings.

Here's hoping the Cubs hit Wainwright hard, as several other teams have done this year.

Today's game is on WGN. It’s also on MLB Network (outside the Chicago and St. Louis markets).

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Cardinals site Viva El Birdos. If you do go there to interact with Cardinals fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2017 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used during 2016. Here's how it works.

You'll find the game preview posted separately on the front page, two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page. The First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads will be published in that stream, as well as the recap. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post, and at the time I write the recap I will rename the stream "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread, all the overflow threads and recap in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in the game's StoryStream as noted above.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at one hour, two hours and 2:45 after the scheduled game time.

Get tickets to Cubs games from our partner StubHub here.

Discuss amongst yourselves.