Chicago Cubs look to sweep rival Cardinals behind Hendricks

It’s been a season of hot and cold for the Chicago Cubs. But the hot resides at Wrigley Field. Tonight, they’ll look for the sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals as Kyle Hendricks takes the mound.

The Chicago Cubs have pushed the St. Louis Cardinals to under .500, and hope to put a little space between them as they look for the sweep tonight at Wrigley Field. Kyle Hendricks will take the hill for the Cubs looking to bounce back from his worst start of the season (5 ER, 5 IP). Michael Wacha takes the mound for the Cardinals as he’s struggled in his last two starts.

The Cubs (27-27) needed a little bit of everything in yesterday’s game to get the 5-3 comeback victory. A pickoff–like, a legitimate one–by Jon Lester, the first of his career. A grand slam by the struggling Kyle Schwarber to lift the Cubs to the lead. Now they’ll look to support Hendricks (4-3, 3.75) who had been pitching well (three straight QS) before the slip up in San Diego.

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The Cardinals (26-27) have had each of the last two games in hand before the Cubs rallied to win each of them late. Wacha (2-3, 3.99) has struggled in his last two starts, going just three and four innings in his last two outings. Baserunners have been an issue for Wacha, driving up the pitch count early. In his last two outings, he’s averaged more than 25 pitches per inning.

Addison Russell will return to the lineup and will join Miguel Montero as the changes made by Joe Maddon. Ian Happ will remain in the leadoff spot after reaching base twice in yesterday’s contest. Schwarber, who was moved to the ninth spot for the firs time, will remain there as he hopes to find anything he can to gain some momentum at the plate this season.

For the Cardinals, they will get third baseman Jedd Gyorko back off the paternity list for the finale. In his last game, Gyorko went 3-for-4 against the Dodgers.

Here are the lineups for tonight’s series finale:

The series finale starts at 6:35 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field. ESPN will have the television coverage while 670 The Score will have the radio broadcast. Be sure to check back during the game and after for more Cubs coverage.