Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals preview, Wednesday 7/31, 7:15 CT

Lots of stuff happened on trade deadline day for the Cubs and here’s where to find it all!

Today’s Nicholas Castellanos acquisition: Here

Today’s Tony Kemp acquisition: Here

Today’s Carl Edwards Jr. trade: Here

Today’s roster move: Here

Analysis of new Cubs players Tony Kemp and David Phelps: Here

Game notes:

• The Cubs have played 53 games decided by two or fewer runs this year, fifth-most in the majors (the Reds lead with 57 such games). However, the Cubs have posted a .415 winning percentage (22-31) in those contests, 14th in the N.L. and 26th in the majors.
• The Cubs have held a lead in all 16 games since the All-Star break and have held a lead in 19 of 22 games this month. The team previously held a lead in at least 16 consecutive games during a 23-game run, July 27-August 20, 2016. The difference: The Cubs were 19-4 in that 2016 run. Now? Not so much. (H/T: Ed Hartig)
• Jason Heyward, 29 games since June 22: .346/.381/.579 (37-for-107) with eight doubles, a triple, five home runs, 18 RBI and 16 runs.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Cardinals lineup:

Kyle Hendricks, RHP vs. Miles Mikolas, RHP

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Hendricks seems fully recovered from the shoulder issue that put him on the injured list in June. Last three starts: 2.00 ERA, 0.889 WHIP, though three homers in 18 innings.

He’s been lights-out in two starts vs. the Cardinals this year: 16 innings, 12 hits, no walks, one earned run.

I’ll make this brief: The Cubs could use another one like those two tonight.

Miles Mikolas has made two starts against the Cubs this year. The first, May 31 in St. Louis, was very good: seven innings, six hits, one run. Then June 7 at Wrigley Field, Mikolas was lifted after four innings and 74 pitches having allowed three runs.

Mikolas has been much better at home (2.15 ERA, 0.955 WHIP in 10 starts) than on the road (6.75 ERA, 1.556 WHIP in 11 starts). That’s not a good sign for the Cubs. Current Cubs are hitting .255 (35-for-137) against him with two home runs, both by Javier Baez.

Today’s game is on WGN. It’s also on ESPN (no blackouts). ESPN announcers: Jon Sciambi, David Ross and Eduardo Perez.

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 2019 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used in previous years. 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.

Discuss amongst yourselves.