The Cubs try to keep it rolling in St. Louis this weekend amid reports that Ryan Dempster is on the verge of being traded. Because of the trade being imminent, at least per reports, Ryan Dempster has been pulled from his start tomorrow. From the sound of it Casey Coleman will take Dempster’s start tomorrow as he was scratched from his Iowa Cubs start tonight. The report of Dempster being pulled is coming from MLB Network, but has not been confirmed by any of the local media or the Cubs themselves at the time of this preview. So, aside from all of that, the Cubs continue to be the hottest team in baseball since late June. They come into this series with the Cardinals on the heels of a 5-1 home stand, and a series win over the Marlins. Conversely the Cardinals come into this series limping as they are 4-6 in their last 10 games and have fallen into third place in the Central division, five full games out of first. The Cardinals have led the NL in runs scored for quite some time, but they are struggling as of late, only scoring 51 runs in July (14 games), which is good for 12th in the NL over that time. By comparison the Cubs have scored 63 runs in July, good for 6th in the NL. The only reason the Cardinals have kept their head above water this month has been their pitching, they boast a staff ERA of 2.65 in July, the best in the National League. The Cubs have been really good as well with a 3.19 ERA in July, good for 4th in the National League. Full preview/breakdown after the jump.
Continue reading “July 20 – 22, 2012; @ Cardinals – Series Preview”
Born on Third 