St. Louis Cardinals (78-81, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (89-70, second in the NL Central)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (8-10, 4.76 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 96 strikeouts); Cubs: Colin Rea (10-7, 4.10 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 120 strikeouts)

Cubs -179, Cardinals +149; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Chicago Cubs host the St. Louis Cardinals to open a three-game series.

Chicago has a 47-31 record at home and an 89-70 record overall. Cubs hitters are batting a collective .249, which ranks eighth in the NL.

St. Louis has a 34-44 record in road games and a 78-81 record overall. The Cardinals have gone 38-62 in games when they have given up at least one home run.

The teams meet Friday for the 11th time this season. The season series

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