Cubs scouting report

Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field

TV: WGN Tuesday; Comcast SportsNet Wednesday and Thursday

Radio: WGN 720-AM

Pitching matchups: The Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano (4-1) vs. Chris Carpenter (0-2) Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.; Matt Garza (1-4) vs. Jake Westbrook (2-2) Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.; Casey Coleman (1-2) vs. Jaime Garcia (4-0) Thursday at 1:20 p.m.

At a glance: This is the first meeting between the two rivals this year. The Cubs were 9-6 against the Cardinals last year, 4-5 at Wrigley Field. Despite having ace Adam Wainwright on the DL and also suffering through issues with their closer’s spot, the Cardinals are first in the NL Central at 20-15. They’re doing it with a potent offense, led by Lance Berkman, whom they signed last winter. Ex-Cub Ryan Theriot has a hitting line of 287/.341/.320. He has committed 8 errors. Zambrano has held Berkman to 11-for-70. Albert Pujols has 5 homers off Zambrano. Against Carpenter, Alfonso Soriano is 14-for-42 with 2 homers; Kosuke Fukudome is just 2-for-17 vs. Carpenter.

Next: San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field, Friday-Sunday

— Bruce Miles