Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals preview, Sunday 7/30, 1:15 CT

Sunday notes...

• A MILESTONE GAME: Today’s game will be the Cubs’ 2,500th against the Cardinals. From their first, on April 12, 1892, through the end of 1913, the Cubs had a .670 winning percentage vs. the Cards (267-129-9), the highest it ever has been. Their win last night was the Cubs’ 1,000th over the Cards since then. They have lost 1,084 games and tied 10, for a .480 percentage. Their overall record thus is 1,267-1,213-19, .511. Those are the most wins by the Cubs against any opponent. They have won 1,265 vs. the Pirates, whom they have played 2,588 times, most of any big league rivalry. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• HE’S HOT: Mike Tauchman, last 12 games since July 16: .381/.447/.619 (16-for-42) with four doubles, two home runs, 12 RBI, five walks and 10 runs scored.
• ALSO HOT: Cody Bellinger’s month of July, with two games remaining: .413/.447/.717 (38-for-92) with four doubles, eight home runs, 24 RBI and 20 runs scored.
• NEAR THE TOP: The Cubs are 27-15 since they were swept in Anaheim June 8. That’s the third-best record in MLB over that span, only the Braves (28-12) and Reds (28-15) are better. The 27-15 record is a .643 winning percentage, if the Cubs can maintain that the rest of the year they will win 90 games.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Cardinals lineup:

Kyle Hendricks, RHP vs. Steven Matz, LHP

Kyle Hendricks did not face the Cardinals in the series last weekend, which is too bad, because over the course of his career he’s been excellent against them. In 25 starts: 2.69 ERA, 1.058 WHIP in 160⅔ innings. The two guys he needs to look out for: Paul Goldschmidt (13-for-43, .302, nine doubles) and Nolan Arenado (10-for-40, .250, but three home runs).

Hold those two down and it should be a good day for Kyle, who also has a 2.45 ERA in 11 career starts at Busch Stadium (69⅔ innings).

Steven Matz allowed one run in five innings to the Cubs July 20 at Wrigley Field. Then he threw six shutout innings against the Diamondbacks in his ensuing start. So — looks like Matz has figured out whatever was wrong earlier this year. This could be a tough game. The only good thing is that the Cubs have generally hit lefties well this year.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. You can find out if Marquee is available via a provider in your area here.

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 2023 Game Thread procedure will be like last year’s, 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.