Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
CHC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	3	0
STL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	7	1

Boyd (6-1, 3.46 ERA) and May (5-7, 4.38 ERA) squared off in the series' third act with very different recent trend lines behind them. Boyd's last time out was clean — 7 innings against the Pirates on July 24, just 1 earned run allowed with 4 strikeouts. May matched him pitch for pitch that same day, working 6 innings against the Reds with 8 strikeouts and only 1 run charged to him. Neither guy looked like a pitcher on the ropes walking in.

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FINAL

Spread

ML

Total

Cubs(61-46)

WWLWW

2

-1.5+167-100o7.5-106

Cardinals(53-54)

LLLWL

3

+1.5-170-102u7.5+108

Best BetCubs -119

Postgame

Miss — the Cardinals won outright in extras, the exact upset risk from a thin Cubs pen the bear flagged.

Pregame

We backed the Cubs at -114 before first pitch, and the price told the story: Chicago's the better team by record and had just outscored St. Louis 17-5 over the previous two games. Sharp money leaned Cardinals late, and the Cubs' number drifted from -113 to -101 as a result, but the roster gap still favored Chicago on paper.

Both rotations are operating shorthanded elsewhere. The Cubs' bullpen is thin — Daniel Palencia, Phil Maton, Ben Brown, Ethan Roberts and Hoby Milner are all working back from injury — which puts extra weight on length from arms like Boyd. St. Louis has its own bullpen problems, with JoJo Romero still not cleared from appendicitis recovery and Riley O'Brien banged up. Ramon Urias' rehab assignment got worse, not better, after he took a pitch off the elbow at Triple-A Memphis over the weekend.

Matthew Boyd

(8-1)·3.50 ERA

Jul 24 @ Pirates

ND

7.0IP

1ER

4K

3BB

97P

07/29 Lineup

Dustin May

(6-7)·4.30 ERA

Jul 24 vs Reds

ND

6.0IP

1ER

8K

1BB

89P

07/29 Lineup

This series had already gone sideways for St. Louis before first pitch. Alex Bregman put together his first four-hit game as a Cub two nights earlier, and Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ each drove in two runs the following night as Chicago piled up a pair of blowouts. A Cardinals team fighting for relevance heading into the trade deadline — with May himself reportedly drawing interest from contenders — needed literally anything to go right.

Chicago Cubs

(61-46)

Jul 28W@ Cardinals10-2

Jul 27W@ Cardinals7-3

Jul 26L@ Pirates7-8

Jul 25W@ Pirates11-0

Jul 24W@ Pirates3-2

St. Louis Cardinals

(53-54)

Jul 28Lvs Cubs2-10

Jul 27Lvs Cubs3-7

Jul 26Lvs Reds3-5

Jul 25Wvs Reds7-0

Jul 25Lvs Reds2-4

And for a while, nothing did — both offenses were held scoreless for nine straight innings, a stalemate that would've extended the Cubs' domination of this series to a third game running. Instead the bats woke up late: both clubs scored in extras, but St. Louis put up one more than Chicago did to steal it.

It's a small, gritty win in the middle of a rough stretch for St. Louis — losers in 4 of their last 5 — and it at least stops the bleeding before Thursday's series finale. For the Cubs, still 61-46 and rolling, a missed opportunity like this barely dents the bigger picture.

Chicago Cubs

(14)

• 10-Day-ILMatt Shaw (RF) — Shaw is still feeling discomfort related to his left hand sprain and has yet to resume swinging a bat, Vinnie Duber of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.07/18
• 15-Day-ILEdward Cabrera (SP) — Cabrera (hamstring) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa on Friday, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.07/27
• 15-Day-ILDaniel Palencia (RP) — Cubs manager Craig Counsell said that Palencia (elbow) is scheduled to throw an up-and-down bullpen session Tuesday, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.07/26
• 15-Day-ILPhil Maton (RP) — The Cubs placed Maton on the 15-day injured list Monday with right knee tendinitis, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reports.07/20
• 15-Day-ILBen Brown (RP) — Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Friday that Brown (neck) has begun to increase his activity and has taken part in workouts with plyometric balls, MLB.com reports.07/20
• 15-Day-ILEthan Roberts (RP) — Roberts (forearm) tossed a perfect inning in a rehab appearance Sunday with Triple-A Iowa.07/20
• 15-Day-ILHoby Milner (RP) — Manager Craig Counsell said Friday that Milner (abdomen) will likely return from the injured list sometime around Aug. 1, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.07/18
• 15-Day-ILRiley Martin (RP) — The Cubs announced June 10 that Martin (elbow) has resumed playing catch, MLB.com reports.06/22
• 60-Day-ILShelby Miller (RP) — The Cubs announced July 5 that Miller (elbow) has resumed a throwing program in Arizona, MLB.com reports.07/20
• 60-Day-ILHunter Harvey (RP) — Manager Craig Counsell said July 8 that Harvey (triceps/shoulder) has resumed a throwing program at the Cubs' facility in Arizona, but the right-hander remains without a clear timeline for a return from the 60-day injured list, MLB.com reports.07/20
• 60-Day-ILJustin Steele (SP) — Steele (elbow) was cleared to begin ramping up his throwing program Tuesday, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.07/08
• 60-Day-ILPorter Hodge (RP) — The Cubs transferred Hodge (elbow) to the 60-day injured list Friday, Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network reports.05/08
• 60-Day-ILCade Horton (SP) — The Cubs transferred Horton (elbow) to the 60-day injured list Saturday, Andy Martinez of Marquee Sports Network reports.05/08
• 60-Day-ILTyler Austin (1B) — The Cubs placed Austin (knee) on the 60-day injured list Tuesday.05/08

St. Louis Cardinals

(4)

• Day-To-DayRiley O'Brien (RP) — O'Brien was unavailable to pitch in Sunday's 5-3 extra-inning loss to the Reds due to illness, John Denton of Roundtable.io reports.07/27
• 15-Day-ILJoJo Romero (RP) — The Cardinals do not expect Romero (appendicitis) to be ready for activation from the 15-day injured list when first eligible, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.07/19
• 60-Day-ILRamon Urias (3B) — Urias (elbows) was removed from a rehab game at Triple-A Memphis on Sunday after being hit on the elbow by a pitch, Amber Winkler of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.07/28
• 60-Day-ILMax Rajcic (RP) — Rajcic revealed on his Instagram account Thursday that he recently underwent a right elbow UCL reconstruction.07/23