Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals Game 1 preview, Tuesday 8/23, 1:20 CT

SITE NOTE: As is my practice for split doubleheaders, there won’t be a separate recap for Game 1 after it ends. A preview for Game 2 will post shortly before that game starts, around 5:30 p.m. CT. A full recap of both games will post here Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. CT.

Today's roster move: Here

Tuesday notes...

• ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Drew Smyly allowed one run Monday and has allowed two or fewer runs in four straight starts dating to August 6, posting a 1.13 ERA (three earned runs in 24 innings) during that stretch. The 1.13 ERA is the second-lowest in the majors (minimum four games started) in that span.
• THE PITCHING IS STILL GOOD: Cubs starters have posted a 2.89 ERA (54 earned runs in 168 innings) in the team’s last 32 games and Cubs pitchers as a whole have posted a 2.78 ERA (89 earned runs in 288⅓ innings) since July 16, the second-lowest ERA in the majors during that span.
• ONE-HITTERS: The Cubs have been one-hit six times since Cole Hamels’ no-hitter against them in 2015. The Cubs players who got the lone hit in the other five games before Christopher Morel on Monday: Dexter Fowler (May 30, 2016), Addison Russell (September 19, 2018), Nick Castellanos (September 8, 2019), Kris Bryant (April 6, 2021) and Patrick Wisdom (August 21, 2021).
• NOT WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: The Cubs’ 68 games decided by two or fewer runs are second-most in the majors behind Pittsburgh (73). The team’s .441 winning percentage (30-38) in those games is seventh-lowest in the majors, and after Monday the Cubs’ record in one-run games is 18-23 (.439).

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

The Cardinals lineup was not available at posting time. Please check the BCB Twitter feed for the Cardinals lineup.

Javier Assad, RHP vs. Adam Wainwright, RHP

Larry Kave/Myrtle Beach Pelicans

USA TODAY NETWORK

Well, this is a surprise.

Javier Assad wasn’t on anyone’s Cubs prospect radar before the season started. Josh has him ranked 18th in his latest update.

He’s from Mexico and the Cubs signed him in 2016. He’s 25 and has a 2.66 ERA and 1.237 WHIP in 23 appearances (21 starts) this year combined between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa.

That’s really all I know. Those of you who follow the system closely might know more. In his last outing August 18 vs. Indianapolis, he threw six shutout innings and struck out six.

Adam Wainwright seems ageless. At age 40 he’s having one of his better seasons. He has thrown 14 innings against the Cubs this year, and allowed two runs.

Today marks Wainwright’s 47th career start against the Cubs. That’s third-most by anyone in the divisional play era (1969 to date). Only Bob Forsch (49) and Steve Carlton (65) had more.

This will not be an easy game against a very good pitcher.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee. This game is 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 2022 Game Thread procedure will be like last years, 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.