Cubs scouting report
Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium
TV: WGN
Radio: WGN 720-AM
Pitching matchups: The Cubs’ Ryan Dempster (5-3) vs. Kyle Lohse (9-2) Friday at 7:15 p.m.; Matt Garza (5-7) vs. Jake Westbrook (7-8) Saturday at 6:15 p.m.; Travis Wood (4-4) vs. Lance Lynn (11-4) Sunday at 1:15 p.m.
At a glance: The Cubs are 4-4 against the Cardinals this season, 2-3 at Busch Stadium in two trips. The Cardinals (47-45) are third in the NL Central but have lost two straight. Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina entered Thursday in the top 10 in batting average. Carlos Beltran was third in homers (20). Dempster, the subject of many trade rumors, leads the NL in ERA (1.86). He is 5-6 with a 4.76 ERA lifetime against St. Louis. As a team, the Cardinals entered Thursday leading the league in batting average, hits, runs, walks and on-base percentage. Their pitching was seventh in ERA (3.86) while the Cubs were 14th (4.27). The Cubs’ Alfonso Soriano is 18-for-47 (.383) against Lohse.
Next: Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, Monday-Wednesday
— Bruce Miles