The St. Louis Cardinals will now head a few hours over to Chicago to play the other team in the city, the White Sox. This series will feature pitchers such as Lance Lynn, Jack Flaherty, and Carlos Rodon, who have been dominant so far. Find out everything about this series as the Cardinals head to Chicago to challenge the White Sox.
The Chicago White Sox currently holds 1st place in the AL Central, as the Indians are only 1.5 games behind. The Cards ended up dropping two of the three games against the Cubs and now are only 2 games ahead of them for 1st in the NL Central.
The White Sox have been struggling as of late, losing 3 games in a row to the tough New York Yankees. Their offense has not been clicking recently, and they will search for answers against the Cardinals. Both teams have won just 4 of the last 10 games and need a few wins in this 3 game series to maintain first place in their divisions.
Cardinals Need To Get the Bats Going After Sup-Par Series Against Cubs
The Cardinal’s previous series against the rival Cubs didn’t go perfect. They were just able to pull out one win against them, and the pitching helped make that happen. The Cardinals hitters were only able to produce 6 total runs in three games and couldn’t find a rhythm against the mediocre Cubs rotation.
In Friday night’s matchup, the Cubs blew out the Cards 12-3. Carlos Martinez pitched a sensational game in his return from injury, but the bullpen imploded and allowed 9 runs in the final four innings of the game. Paul Goldschmidt, Dylan Carlson, and Tommy Edman all scored in a run, but it wasn’t enough for the Redbirds to win.
Saturday night was a low-scoring affair with a final score of 2-1 in the Cardinal’s favor. Yadier Molina was the savior with a solo blast in the 7th inning. The bullpen was able to close out the game this time, and the Cards evened the series at 1-1.
The final game of the series was on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. This was the second straight Sunday where the Cardinals were featured, and Adam Wainwright was the starter thrower. This game was a snoozer, as Waino allowed just 1 hit in 8 innings and the Cardinals with just 6. Javier Baez won the game and the series with a 2-run shot in the 9th.
White Sox Will Rely on Pitching Until Their Offense Can Get Hot
The Chicago White Sox have been one of the most consistent teams in baseball with a record of 26-19. They had a very rough three games against the 28-19 Yankees with three straight losses. Former Cardinals manager Tony La Russa now manages the White Sox and will try to get his ball club out of this slump.
The White Sox lineup currently is tied for 5th in runs per game with 5 a night. As of late, that has not been the case, only scoring 5 runs in the past three games. Against the Yankees, their pitching was good, with Carlos Rodon striking out 13 hitters in 6 innings. Chicago is looking to get out of the rut they have been in for the past 3 games.
Chicago’s lineup features young stars such as Yermin Mercedes, Yoan Moncada, and Nick Madrigal. The offensive weapons are there, but they haven’t been able to get the bats rolling for about a week. Against the Cardinals, look for Jose Abreu and Yoan Moncado to ignite the offense to score some runs.
Contrary to the offense lately, the pitching has been on point, with Dallas Keuchel and Carlos Rodon throwing great games. In the three games against the Cardinals, it will be interesting to see what kind of White Sox team we get and if they will be able to combat the three losses with some wins.
Pitcher Probables and Prediction
Monday, May 24: Lance Lynn vs. Kwang Hyun Kim
Each starter has been good all year, but the former Cardinal in Lance Lynn has been superb. He holds a 4-1 record and a 1.55 ERA. Kim has been good this year with 1 win and 1 loss, and a 2.73 ERA. I think the White Sox will take game 1 on national television Monday night because of how good Lance Lynn has been and the heavy right-handed-hitting from the Cardinals.
Tuesday, May 25: Lucas Giolito vs. Jack Flaherty
Two young friends and aces will duel each other in what should be a great pitcher’s game. Giolito has a 3-4 record this year with an alright ERA of 4.35. Flaherty has been purely dominant with an 8-0 record and a 2.53 ERA. I’ll take the Cardinals in what looks like a low-scoring affair with these pitchers on the mound.
Wednesday, May 26th: Carlos Rodon vs. John Gant
Rodon has been sensational so far with an ERA of 1.27 and 5 wins to just 1 loss. John Gant has been looking great as well, with a 3-3 record and a 2.04 ERA. This will be another tough pitcher’s game, but I will take the Cardinals on this one as they dominate left-handed pitching.
