The St. Louis Cardinals will host the Chicago Cubs this evening in Game 1 of their NLDS series. What is a reasonable final score prediction for this game?
Jon Lester will be going up against John Lackey in Game 1, which should be a very intriguing pitching matchup. Chicago seems to have the advantage if Lester can pitch to his full potential, but Lackey has had a good season for the Cardinals as well.
Lackey finished the 2015 regular season with a 13-10 record to go along with a 2.77 ERA and a 3.30 K/BB ratio. Lester, on the other hand, finished the regular season with an 11-12 record to go along with a 3.34 ERA and a 4.40 K/BB ratio. While the advantage seems to favor Lackey in this game just looking at stats, there is no question that Lester has been the better pitcher when comparing the two careers.
Chicago has the offensive talent to jump up on the Cardinals quickly, which is exactly what they need to do. Similar to what they did against the Pittsburgh Pirates in their 4-0 shutout in the NL Wild Card playoff game, they have to jump out early and make a statement and set the tone.
Anthony Rizzo has had major success against the Cardinals this season, while Kyle Schwarber and Kris Bryant have also been able to bring power to the table. Lester needs some confidence behind him, which is exactly what the offense can do. If they can come out in the first few innings and put a few runs on the board, the Cubs should be in good shape.
As for the Cardinals' lineup, they are happy to welcome Yadier Molina back to the field and have Matt Carpenter and Matt Holliday in the lineup as well. Those three guys are more than capable of putting up big offensive numbers for St. Louis and Lester cannot afford to allow them to get hot.
More than likely Game 1 is going to be close with an electric atmosphere. There will be quite a few Cubs fans in attendance, but the Cardinal faithful will turn out as well. These two teams are extremely better rivals, which makes this playoff series even more entertaining for anyone watching it.
If you're a diehard baseball fan, make sure that you have this game turned on. It should come down to the final innings, but the Cubs have the pitching and offense to come out on top. St. Louis has been struggling lately and the Cubs are playing with extreme confidence coming into this game.
Expect to see the Cubs pull out a narrow victory, but the Cardinals could very well take Game 1 as well with how evenly these two teams match up.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs Final Score Prediction: Cubs 3, Cardinals 2
