The St. Louis Cardinals (70-52) and Chicago Cubs (53-69) continue their 5-game series at Wrigley Field with an 8:05 p.m. ET game on Wednesday.

Season series: St. Louis leads 8-5

The Cardinals had an 8-game win streak snapped with a 2-0 loss in the opening tilt of a Tuesday doubleheader at Wrigley. The Cards bounced back with a 13-3 triumph in the nightcap. St. Louis has allowed just 6 runs through the first 3 games of this series.

The Cubs are 10 games under-.500 at home (27-37), but they’ve performed well at Wrigley in recent weeks. And pitching has led the way. Chicago owns a 3.15 ERA and a 10-5 mark in its last 15 games in front of the ivy.

Cardinals at Cubs projected starters

RHP Miles Mikolas vs. RHP Luke Farrell

Mikolas (10-9, 3.32 ERA) has a 1.02 WHIP, 1.6 BB/9 and 6.8 K/9 through 157 1/3 IP in 25 starts.

• Filed a clunker at Coors Field Aug. 9, but has responded with 2 strong efforts since, allowing a combined 3 ER in the last 16 IP
• Operates with tilted home/road splits (4.45 road ERA since 2020 vs. 2.76 ERA at home)

Farrell is a 6-year Major League veteran making his 1st appearance this season.

• Has pitched in 63 games, making 5 starts, in his career
• Has a 5-5 record alongside a 4.93 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 4.8 BB/9 and 9.6 K/9 in 87 2/3 career IP
• Registered a 5.03 and 1.46 WHIP in 59 IP thisyear at Triple-A Iowa

Cardinals at Cubs odds and lines

• Money line: Cardinals -220 (bet $100 to win $220) | Cubs +175 (bet $175 to win $100)
• Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Cardinals -1.5 (-130) | Cubs +1.5 (+105)
• Over/Under (O/U): 8.5 (O: -112 | U: -108)

Cardinals at Cubs picks and predictions

Prediction

Cubs 5, Cardinals 4

Money line

The Cards were a solid play over the first few weeks of August, but the scales now tip St. Louis a little bit into fade territory.

Mikolas is catching a Cubs attack on its best side (against right-handers) and playing well in its home yard.

Chicago is worth a straight-up play at +190. For any tag lower WALK ON BY.

Run line/Against the spread

Chicago has played in 41 one-run games; the MLB average is 34.

BACK THE CUBS +1.5 (+105).

Over/Under

PASS. Mikolas, Chicago bullpen, and batting-both sides — expectation versus production all the way around — are factors that crisscross. So, there’s no leverage to be found here.

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