Cubs vs. Cardinals: Picks, predictions, how to watch Saturday’s game

The Cubs and Cardinals square off on Saturday with first pitch set for 2:15 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Adrian Sampson will make his first start for the Cubs after being recalled from Triple-A Iowa, while the Cardinals will counter with Miles Mikolas (5-5, 2.64 ERA).

The Cubs kicked off this three-game series with a 3-0 upset win over the Cardinals on Friday. Kyle Hendricks had a vintage performance in allowing just five hits on an efficient 91 pitches before being relieved in the bottom of the eighth. Nico Hoener was fantastic in the upset win by hitting a home run, a single and two RBIs. After Friday’s win the Cubs have now won three straight at Busch Field against the Cardinals.

Friday was a game to forget for the highly favored Cardinals, who went scoreless as a result of Hendrick’s vintage pitching performance. The series-opening loss moves St. Louis to 40-33, tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for the third-best record in the National League. Despite being top-five in batting average and total runs the Cardinals are just 4-6 over the last 10 games and will look to bounce back convincingly on Saturday.

Cubs vs. Cardinals

Pitchers: Adrian Sampson vs. Miles Mikolas
First pitch: 2:10 p.m. ET
Cubs local broadcast: BSMW
Cardinals local broadcast: MARQ
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions

Run Line: Cardinals -1.5 (+100)
Run total: 9
Moneyline odds: Cubs +160, Cardinals -190

Moneyline pick: Cardinals -190

Sampson has thrown well for the Cubs in Triple-A but after being shut out in a vintage Hendricks performance on Friday I like the Cardinals to bounce back accordingly. St. Louis is top-10 in batting average (.265) over the past two weeks and should give Sampson a good challenge in his first regular-season start.

Player prop pick: Paul Goldschmidt over 1.5 hits (+175)

Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals in hits and home runs and I like him in Saturday’s matchup coming off an 0-for-3 performance at-bat in Friday’s loss. Prior to Friday, Goldschmidt recorded a hit in nine of his previous 10 games and I think he gets back on track starting with Saturday's matchup.

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