The Cubs (35-27) survived their West Coast trip by taking two of three from the Padres to capture that season series and head home on a high note. Improved starting pitching and timely power put a series loss in San Francisco out of mind. Now Chicago welcomes the rival Cardinals to a fully reopened Wrigley Field for a weekend set.
The Cards (32-30) have lost five of their last six games to drop third place in the National League Central and an injury to ace Jack Flaherty has further weakened a shaky starting pitching staff. They have allowed an average of seven runs per game over their last seven, only limiting their opponents to fewer than five runs twice in that time.