Happ expected to start for the Cardinals against Cubs

St. Louis Cardinals (83-69, second in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (67-85, fourth in the NL Central)

Chicago; Friday, 2:20 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: J.A. Happ (9-8, 6.02 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 109 strikeouts) Cubs: Justin Steele (3-3, 4.40 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 47 strikeouts)

LINE: Cubs +140, Cardinals -160; over/under is even

BOTTOM LINE: Chicago and St. Louis will square off on Friday.

The Cubs are 39-38 in home games in 2020. Chicago has hit 202 home runs as a team this season. Patrick Wisdom leads the team with 27, averaging one every 12.1 at-bats.

The Cardinals have gone 41-36 away from home. St. Louis has a collective on-base percentage of .308, led by Paul Goldschmidt with a mark of .362.

The Cardinals won the last meeting 3-2. Kwang Hyun Kim secured his sixth victory and Dylan Carlson went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and an RBI for St. Louis. Adbert Alzolay registered his 10th loss for Chicago.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ian Happ leads the Cubs with 23 home runs and is batting .224.

Nolan Arenado leads the Cardinals with 69 extra base hits and is batting .256.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 2-8, .262 batting average, 7.48 ERA, outscored by 27 runs

Cardinals: 10-0, .288 batting average, 2.74 ERA, outscored opponents by 38 runs

INJURIES: Cubs: Brad Wieck: (heart), Kohl Stewart: (elbow), Manuel Rodriguez: (shoulder), Jonathan Holder: (shoulder), Jason Heyward: (concussion), Michael Hermosillo: (forearm), Alfonso Rivas: (finger), Nick Madrigal: (hamstring), Jose Lobaton: (shoulder), P.J. Higgins: (forearm), Robinson Chirinos: (side).

Cardinals: Brandon Waddell: (covid-19), Carlos Martinez: (thumb), Wade LeBlanc: (elbow), Dakota Hudson: (elbow), Jordan Hicks: (elbow), Ryan Helsley: (elbow), Jack Flaherty: (shoulder), Junior Fernandez: (shoulder), Max Moroff: (shoulder).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.