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Cubs, Cardinals both looking to get on track

The Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals find themselves in the same boat. Whoever rights the ship first may be able to capture the one and only playoff spot that's likely to come out of the National League Central this season.

Both teams have struggled to play .500 ball, with the defending world-champion Cubs being the bigger disappointment at 25-27 going into this weekend's series against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

If you were to read media accounts from each city, you could substitute the names of the teams and players for the other city and see how similar things have been for each club.

To wit, Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote this about the Cardinals earlier in the week:

"The sputtering Cardinals must find strength in numbers to stay in the playoff race this season. This .500 team features more question marks than exclamation points. Injuries, illness and slumps have kept the lineup and bullpen in flux all season.

"Quantity is not the issue for this franchise. The Cardinals have prospects stacked on top of prospects, creating considerable near- and long-term job competition. But can promoted players give this team a midseason boost? And will general manager John Mozeliak bundle some organizational surpluses into a significant trade package? That will determine if the Cardinals get back into postseason play. They still need an impact hitter for the middle of the order and another solid reliever for the bullpen."

Sound familiar? It should. The Cubs are facing some of the same issues.

The saving grace for both teams is that no one is running away with the Central. The surprising Milwaukee Brewers, who are supposed to be rebuilding, entered Thursday leading the division, followed by the Cardinals and the Cubs.

Nobody expects the Brewers to stay on top, which seemingly leaves the NL Central wide open for either the Cubs or their Gateway Arch rivals, the Cardinals, to take.

Winning the Central looks to be a must, with a furious division and wild-card race shaping up in the West.

So far, the Cardinals have been more proactive in trying to shore up things. They've done so by shaking things up.

Earlier this week, they released veteran relief pitcher Jonathan Broxton, eating the remaining $3.75 million salary in 2017, minus the prorated minimum if another team picks him up.

The Cardinals also engineered somewhat of a shocker, sending outfielder Randal Grichuk to Class A ball to get his swing in order. Grichuk, touted as the next big thing in St. Louis, had the game-winning hit against the Cubs on Opening Night in St. Louis.

There have been calls for the Cubs to shake up things as well, but team president Theo Epstein told reporters this week that he's inclined to stand pat - at least for now.

If there's a player in a similar situation to Grichuk on the Cubs, it's outfielder Kyle Schwarber. The Cubs have resisted sending Schwarber to the minor leagues despite Schwarber posting a hitting line of .165/.286/.341 with 8 homers and 19 RBI.

Grichuk was sent down after compiling 1,125 plate appearances in the major leagues since 2014. Schwarber, a postseason hero in 2015 and 2016, has 484 plate appearances in the big leagues.

The Cubs did remove Schwarber from the leadoff spot on May 20. The Cardinals are having similar problems with the leadoff position, and the man on the spot is ex-Cub Dexter Fowler, who signed a five-year, $82.5 million free-agent deal in the off-season.

Fowler has posted better numbers of late, going 10-for-30 over the previous week entering Thursday's game against the Dodgers. That included what turned out to be a game-winning homer Wednesday night. However, Fowler batted only .221 in May, and his season line heading into Thursday was .228/.313/.433, with 7 homers and 19 RBI. That performance has led to calls for the Cardinals to drop Fowler in the order and use Matt Carpenter at the top.

There should be some feel-good emotion for Fowler this weekend. He will receive his World Series ring before Friday's game, and he could be the first Cardinals player in recent memory to receive a warm ovation from the Wrigley Field crowd.

Part of that may be a little wistfulness from Cubs fans who might not mind seeing Fowler back in blue at Wrigley Field.

By the numbers

Cardinals Cubs

W-L 25-25 25-27

BA .252 .235

OB% .324 .324

SLG% .406 .405

RISP .233 .211

Runs scored 210 240

Home runs 51 66

Run differential -2.0 0.0

ERA 3.75 4.08

WHIP 1.28 1.33

Source: Teamrankings.com. All statistics are through Wednesday.

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez leads a staff that has had better results this year than the Cubs starting staff. Associated Press

Scouting report

Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field

TV: Comcast SportsNet Friday; WGN Saturday; ESPN Sunday

Radio: WSCR 670-AM

Pitching matchups: The Cubs' John Lackey (4-5) vs. Lance Lynn (4-3) Friday at 1:20 p.m.; Jon Lester (3-3) vs. Mike Leake (5-3) Saturday at 1:20 p.m.; Kyle Hendricks (4-3) vs. Michael Wacha (2-3) Sunday at 6:35 p.m.

At a glance: This is the Cardinals' first visit to Wrigley Field this year. The teams have played twice already at Busch Stadium, splitting six games, with the Cardinals outscoring the Cubs 21-17. Former Cubs leadoff man Dexter Fowler has picked it up of late, but he entered Thursday with a line of .228/.313/.433 with 7 homers and 19 RBI. Jedd Gyorko was at .310/.361/.548 with 8 homers and 22 RBI. Matt Carpenter entered the day leading the team with 9 homers and 27 RBI. The Cardinals have been better on the road this year, going 12-10 while they're under .500 at home. The Cubs are 14-11 at home but 11-16 on the road, where they have lost eight in a row. St. Louis pitching entered Thursday third in the NL in ERA (3.75) while the Cubs were fifth (4.08). This begins a 10-game Cubs homestand.

Next: Miami Marlins at Wrigley Field, Monday-Wednesday

- Bruce Miles

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