Scouting report
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
At Turner Field (Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday)
The skinny: The defending National League champions have scuffled early and were 5 1/2 games behind division-leading Milwaukee entering Friday; the Brewers just took two of three from St. Louis early last week.
Series history: Cardinals lead 267-238 since 1966; Braves are 109-83 since 1991.
Last 10 games (through Thursday games): 4-6
State of the union: From Bernie Miklasz of St. Louis Post-Dispatch after St. Louis blew leads to lose twice to Milwaukee: "They outfought us the last two nights, and that's what it came down to," Matheny said. The Cardinals were outfought? For the love of Norman Vincent Peale, that's quite the admission from a manager who takes immense pride in his team's rep for being relentless, maximum-drive competitors. Matheny is overly protective of his players in his public assessments, so his rare candor was welcome. And truthful. This wasn't a good opening month (15-14) for a team that's supposedly the best in the National League. … The Cardinals often played like a group that expected to win games by bopping opponents over the head with rolled-up printouts of preseason predictions.
Three things: 1) Catcher Yadier Molina was fifth in the NL in batting in April (.350). Center fielder Peter Bourjos had the fifth-worst NL average in April (.160) and has been benched. 2) Allen Craig matched a career-high four hits on Wednesday and had seven hits against the Brewers but it only improved his average to .220. 3) Jim Edmonds, Willie McGee, Mike Shannon and Marty Marion will be inducted into the team's Hall of Fame in August.
CHICAGO CUBS
At Turner Field (Friday-Saturday-Sunday)
The skinny: Chicago fans already are having to say: Wait till next year. The Cubs are an awful 9-17, with only Houston and Arizona posting worst records thus far, and the Cubs are already 10 games behind the Brewers in the division entering Friday.
Series history: Chicago is 239-258 since 1966 vs. the Braves; Braves are 112-75 since 1991.
Last 10 games (through Thursday): 4-6
State of the union: From Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune: A well-rounded victory in Cincinnati couldn't erase the stench of the Cubs' 9-17 record in April. Perhaps the biggest development is the emergence of power arms in the bullpen. The most encouraging sign occurred when manager Rick Renteria summoned Neil Ramirez for his second major-league appearance with a one-run lead against the middle of the Reds order. Ramirez struck out Jay Bruce on a sharp slider and whiffed Todd Frazier on a 96 mph fastball to cap his second scoreless inning in the majors. In the seventh, left-hander Wesley Wright struck out Joey Votto with the tying run on base to end the inning and extend his scoreless streak to seven appearances.
Three things: 1) The Cubs are in the middle of a stretch of 29 games in 31 days through May 18. 2) Jason Hammel's four April victories are the most for a Cubs pitcher since Ryan Dempster and Carlos Zambrano in 2008. 3) Cubs relievers are unscored upon for six consecutive games entering Friday.
