Cubs scouting report

Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium

TV: WGN Friday; FOX Saturday; Comcast SportsNet Sunday

Radio: WGN 720-AM

Pitching matchups: The Cubs’ Ryan Dempster (4-4) vs. Jaime Garcia (5-1) Friday at 7:15 p.m.; Randy Wells (1-1) vs. Kyle Lohse (7-2) Saturday at 3:10 p.m.; Carlos Zambrano (5-2) vs. Chris Carpenter (1-5) Sunday at 1:15 p.m.

At a glance: Somehow, the Cardinals have rocketed to first place with ace pitchere Adam Wainwright on the DL, Carpenter off to a 1-5 start, a change of closers and slugger Albert Pujols not hitting up to his standards. The Cardinals took two of three from the Cubs at Wrigley Field in May. Ex-Cub Ryan Theriot entered Thursday leading the Cardinals in hits (59) and batting .303. Pujols’ hitting line was .262/.333/.412 with 9 homers and 31 RBI. Dempster is 7-7 with a 4.43 ERA against the Cardinals. St. Louis pitcher Kyle McClellan (hip) went on the DL this week, and top hitter Matt Holliday (quad) was expected to hit the DL Thursday. Despite the disparity in records, Busch Stadium should be rocking this weekend with thousands of Cubs fans making the trip.

Next: Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park, Monday-Wednesday

— Bruce Miles