Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals preview, Sunday 6/13, 6:08 CT

Sunday notes...

• JOC HOT: Joc Pederson, last eight games: .321/.321/.929 (9-for-28), two doubles, five home runs. Last four games: 7-for-17 (.412), three home runs.
• HOME COOKING: The Cubs have won their last five home games since May 31 and have won eight of their last nine, 10 of their last 12 and are 15-3 in their last 18 home games since sweeping a May 4 twin bill against the Dodgers, and have outscored their guests by 42 runs (93-51) in their last 18 home games.
• MORE ABOUT WINNING: May 21 started a stretch that sees the Cubs play 17 of 26 games away from Wrigley Field through June 17. The team is 15-6 in the first 21 games of that run.
• HOME RUN NOTES: The Cubs have homered in 12 straight games since May 31, hitting 26 long balls in that span. It’s the team’s most consecutive games with a home run since a 15-game stretch from April 23-May 9, 2019. The Cubs’ 88 home runs this season rank tied for third in the NL with the Reds, just three behind the Giants and Braves (91).

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

The reason for Javy being scratched:

Cardinals lineup:

Zach Davies, RHP vs. Carlos Martinez, RHP

USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY NETWORK

Zach Davies, last seven starts: 2.15 ERA, 1.221 WHIP, just one home run in 37⅔ innings. That includes six one-hit innings last Tuesday against the Padres. It also includes five shutout innings against the Cardinals May 23 in St. Louis.

Davies has started to throw like he did last year for the Padres, when he was one of the better starters in the league. Not a moment too soon, I might add. Just keep up the good work.

Carlos Martinez limited the Cubs to two runs in six innings May 21 in St. Louis. That included serving up a home run to Joc Pederson.

Since then? Hoo boy. Three starts, 10⅔ total innings, 15.19 ERA, 2.063 WHIP, .340 opponents BA. That included not getting out of the first inning against the Dodgers and allowing 10 runs.

Keep that up, Carlos. We’ll take one just like that Dodger game.

Today’s game is on ESPN.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com 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 2021 Game Thread procedure will be a bit different than previous years. It will be similar to what we’ve used for Spring Training.

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, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.