Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals preview, Thursday 7/22, 6:15 CT

Today’s roster move: Here

Thursday notes...

• GOTTA SCORE FOUR (OR MORE): The Cubs are 36-12 when scoring four or more runs in a game this season but are 11-37 when scoring three or fewer runs. The 48 games with three or fewer runs scored rank fifth-most in the majors (The Pirates and Marlins lead with 55 such games apiece).
• SHOWING SOME SPEED: The Cubs have 15 stolen bases in their last 22 games since June 24 after going 17 straight games without one from June 6-22. The team’s 51 stolen bases this year already surpass the 45 the Cubs stole in all of 2019.
• OFF THE BENCH: Cubs pinch-hitters are second among NL clubs with a .335 OBP and third with a .247 BA (39-for-158). In the team’s last 33 plate appearances by pinch-hitters dating to July 4, they have gone 11-for-29 (.379) with four doubles, two home runs, 11 RBI and four walks.
• THE KRAKEN: Craig Kimbrel has limited opponents to a .102 BA (12-for-118), a .183 OBP and a .327 OPS this season. He’s walked 12 and struck out 61 in 35⅓ innings, good for an average of 15.54 strikeouts per nine innings.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Cardinals lineup:

Adbert Alzolay, RHP vs. Kwang Hyun Kim, LHP

USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY NETWORK

Adbert Alzolay threw seven strong innings against the Cardinals May 22 in St. Louis, allowing five hits and two runs, with no walks and six strikeouts.

Like Alec Mills, Alzolay seems thisclose to becoming a solid MLB starting pitcher.

Another game like that May 22 contest would go a long way toward that.

Statcast

Kwang Hyun Kim has spent July dominating the National League. He’s currently on a 21-inning scoreless streak in which he’s allowed just 11 hits and six walks and struck out 11. That includes six shutout innings against the Cubs July 10 at Wrigley Field, the one the Cubs seemed to phone in.

Enough of that, let’s hope the Cubs bats wake up tonight.

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee. It’s also on MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Cardinals market territories).

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.