Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals: Odds, Analysis and MLB Betting Preview

The Chicago Cubs (1-1) got back on track with their first win of the season behind a strong outing from starting pitcher Jake Arrieta against the St. Louis Cardinals (1-1) on Tuesday.

The Cubs will turn to a familiar face when they go for the series win as small -130 betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark for the rubber match on Wednesday afternoon.

The Cubs will send former Cardinal John Lackey to the mound opposite Lance Lynn in a battle of two pitchers who fell a bit short of expectations a year ago.

Lackey (11-8, 3.35 ERA in 2016) signed with Chicago in an effort to help former teammate Jon Lester end the team’s long World Series drought. It worked, but the 38-year-old veteran did not pitch well in the postseason for the Cubs.

Still, Lackey was 1-1 in four starts versus St. Louis with a 2.03 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 26.2 innings.

Lynn (12-11, 3.03) was not awful either last year, but he did earn the smallest number of wins and pitch the least amount of innings with the lowest strikeout total in his last four full MLB seasons.

The 29-year-old righty also struggled mightily against Chicago, going 0-3 in four outings with a 7.64 ERA. Those four starts lasted a combined total of 17.2 innings, with him surrendering 21 hits and 16 runs with 11 walks and 19 strikeouts.

For the Cardinals to pick up the early series victory, Lynn must obviously pitch much better than he did last season, although he posted slightly better numbers at home in 2016 with a 7-5 mark and 2.91 ERA in 15 starts there. Lackey was 4-4 in 13 road starts last year with a 4.37 ERA but 1-0 in two outings at Busch Stadium with a 1.93 ERA.

St. Louis has a slight 8-7 advantage in the past 15 meetings, according to the OddsShark MLB Database. The under also improved to 6-1-1 in the last eight games between the teams following a 2-1 win for the Cubs that evened the series on Tuesday, with Chicago outfielder Albert Almora robbing Matt Adams of what would have been the game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.