The Chicago Cubs will look to complete a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals -- and notch their seventh win in a row -- in the series finale Sunday night at Wrigley Field.
Chicago is coming off a 4-0 win in the series opener and a 6-5 comeback win on Saturday night against its division rivals. Javier Baez hit the go-ahead home run in the second game to help the Cubs erase a four-run deficit.
St. Louis has lost three straight and will try to avoid its first four-game skid of the season. The Cardinals are 12-4 at home but only 8-9 on the road this season.
Cardinals veteran right-hander Adam Wainwright (3-2, 3.73 ERA) will make his seventh start of the 2019 campaign. He has posted back-to-back quality starts with victories over the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals.
The 37-year-old Wainwright boasts a career record of 151-87 with a 3.32 ERA in parts of 14 seasons with St. Louis. The two-time World Series champion and three-time All-Star is fifth in team history in wins, and he needs two more to tie Bill Sherdel (153) for fourth. Bob Gibson (251), Jesse Haines (210) and Bob Forsch (163) comprise the top three.
Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said Wainwright deserved his place among the Cardinals' all-time greats.
"First of all, let's just step back and appreciate what an accomplishment that is," Shildt said in comments published by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "You look at the Mount Rushmore of pitchers in this organization, which is pretty impressive, and he's carving out a spot. A hundred and fifty wins in one organization is very impressive."
Against the Cubs, Wainwright is 15-10 with a 4.01 ERA in 45 career appearances (36 starts). This will be his 21st career start at Wrigley Field, where he is 11-3 with a 3.78 ERA.
The Cubs will counter with crafty left-hander Jose Quintana (3-1, 3.48 ERA), who will make his sixth start of the year. He has won his past three decisions and has issued only nine walks to go along with 38 strikeouts in 33 2/3 innings.
The 30-year-old Quintana is 4-3 with a 3.86 ERA in eight career starts against the Cardinals. He has issued 16 walks and notched 42 strikeouts in 42 innings against the Cubs' longtime rivals.
Quintana is one of three southpaws in the Cubs rotation, which includes fellow veterans Jon Lester and Cole Hamels. But nobody on the team is concerned with too many left-handers in the starting staff.
"I don't think there's an issue," Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said in comments recently published by the Chicago Tribune. "There are rotations with five right-handers, and nobody says anything about them. ...
"We're always game-planning and giving them the biggest road map to success. But these guys are professionals with plus-plus stuff. So it's a combination of that. We can attack one hitter in the lineup the same way for three days, and another guy we can mix it up. That's the beauty of having guys who can do different things."
--Field Level Media