Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals preview, Tuesday 7/20, 7:15 CT

Tuesday notes...

• THOSE ERRORS: Monday’s fourth inning was the first time the Cubs committed three errors in an inning since the sixth inning, May 19, 2017 vs. Milwaukee. (They lost that game, too, 6-3.)
• WELL, THAT’S A .500 STRETCH OVERALL: Since May 14 the Cubs are 29-29. That breaks down to 21-8 from May 14-June 13 and 8-21 from June 14 to now. In the first stretch the Cubs hit .244/.308/.435, scoring 4.8 runs per game with a 2.76 ERA. In the second (still active), they hit .210/.287/.356, averaged 3.2 runs per game and had a 5.12 ERA.
• WORDS OF WISDOM: Patrick Wisdom, last nine games since July 6: .333 (10-for-30) with six runs scored and three home runs. Overall his 14 home runs lead all NL rookies.
• ROAD WARRIOR: Kris Bryant is hitting .277/.341/.547 with 11 home runs in 176 PA on the road compared to .252/.349/.429 with five home runs in 169 PA at Wrigley Field.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Cardinals lineup:

Trevor Williams, RHP vs. Johan Oviedo, RHP

Trevor Williams returned from having an appendectomy and his first appearance was in probably the worst situation you’d want as a pitcher: The middle innings of a game your team is already down 7-0. Williams made it worse, allowing seven runs, though only three were earned.

Then he was supposed to start the last game before the All-Star break, but it was rained out.

He has not faced the Cardinals this year. Last year he faced them twice and trust me, you do not want to know the results. Fine, look, if you dare.

I really want him to succeed so I’ll just wish him good luck for tonight’s game.

Statcast

Johan Oviedo was in the Cardinals rotation until just before the All-Star break when he was sent to Triple-A Memphis to get some additional work. He made one start there and allowed two runs in six innings with eight strikeouts and was recalled today to start this game..

The Cubs hit him pretty well June 11 at Wrigley Field, four runs in 4⅓ innings. One of those runs was a homer by Joc Pederson... oh, wait.

He faced the Cubs twice last year and posted a 4.66 ERA in 9⅔ innings.

So maybe this is a guy the Cubs can hit.

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee.

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.