Chicago Cubs or St. Louis Cardinals; Who will win the Central?

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(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

The Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals are racing to the finish line. Who’s got the edge in home field and match-ups to take the Central Division?

Let’s face it, this Central Division Series is coming down to the wire, and I’m sure the bets are already in across Vegas whether this competition between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals will end up similar to the end of last season, with these two teams battling each other.

Considering the last games of the season will be the Cubs taking on the Cards at Busch Stadium III, it couldn’t have been set to end any other way. Let’s take a look at who’s got the edge between Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon and St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt going into the postseason.

Home Field Advantage

On September 1st we begin the last 30 days of the 2019 regular season. The Chicago Cubs will have just 13 home games left on the docket and 14 road games. The St. Louis Cardinals have the opposite with 14 home games and 13 road games left to complete.

Just like the Cubs, the Cardinals like playing at home and have a better record in Busch than on the road. In the “every game counts” scenario we’ve been talking about all Cubs season; having one more home game in the last 30 days could be just what the Cards need. But who exactly are these rivals facing at home in September?

The Cubs are looking at mostly division competition throughout September as they play the Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and the Cardinals all in Wrigley. The Mariners will sail into Chicago and try to win anything from their upcoming two-game series. So while the Cubs do play awesome in the Friendly Confines, they haven’t played well against division opponents.

If the Cubs want to be in the postseason this year, they must win the majority of their home games. If they get swept at home by any of their opponents, like the Washington Nationals recently did to them, the hole may be too big to crawl out of this season for the Cubs. It would take the Cards losing more games at home than usual to balance any sweep. Who are the Cards facing at home?

Chicago Cubs: Some tough upcoming series for the Cards

The Cardinals will face the Cubs, Reds and Brewers in the last 30 days at home. They will also meet the San Francisco Giants and the Nationals. This is where it gets fun. The Cardinals will play a double-header against the Reds and two more games to make a four-game series at home.

The Reds have traditionally given the Cardinals a hard time and with a double-header in the middle of the series; the Reds might take three games, or at worst split the series in Busch.

The Cardinals immediately go into a four-game/day series at home against the Giants, who have a better record on the road than at their home in Oracle Park. A split of this series could bring the needed games to put the Cubs ahead and back into first place and all this in the early of the month! If there is a spot where the Cubs could take back first place, it’s going to be prime right around the Cardinals/Giants series.

Alternatively, the first five days of the month for the Cubs will be taking on the Mariners at home and one home/road game against the Brewers. That’s a chance for the Cubs to win three out of four games.

The home game bad news for the Cardinals doesn’t end there. In the middle of the month, the Nationals come to St. Louis. We know that the Nats are capable of swallowing teams and spitting them out as they recently showed us in Chicago. A repeat performance for the best fans in baseball could be devastating to the Cardinals at home and again give the Cubs a break in the series. So what does all this mean as far as home games go?

The Cubs will have to play great against all the teams in their own Division and win the two games against the Mariners in the last 30 days. The Cardinals will have to play great against the Reds and two road teams, the Giants and the Nationals at home to sustain their dominance.

I feel like the Cubs believe in what they’ve been doing lately and are finally ready to take it to their Divisional opponents and being at home makes it all that much better. Going into the postseason, in the last 30 days, look for the Cubs to go (9-4) and the Cardinals to go (7-7) at their respective homes. Let’s take a look at road games for each of these teams.

(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Chicago Cubs: Cubs and Cardinals last road games of the season

The Chicago Cubs again have an advantage in the last 30 days of the season only playing one non-divisional opponent on the road, the San Diego Padres, who have a losing record at home (31-37) and were beaten by the Cubs in Wrigley Field.

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In the last 30 days of the regular season, the Cubs will play a four-game series against the Brewers on the road. I like this series because of all the homers Cubs outfielder, and Kyle Schwarber has been hitting as well as outfielder Nicholas Castellanos. A series in Miller Park might be just what our home run hitters need to give the Cubs the advantage. The Cubs will also face the Pirates and the Cardinals on the road.

While the Pirates have played tough all season and have blinded teams with closer Felipe Javier Vázquez; this series happens to be the second from the last of the season; the Cubs should be playing on all cylinders. The Cubs may drop one game to the Pirates but not much more as they head into Busch Stadium III to finish the season against the Cardinals.

If it’s this close now, can you imagine how close it might be that last week as the Cubs go on the road against the Cardinals? Those games have got to be sold out. It may be both teams fighting for their life. I’m hoping that the Cubs can take care of business earlier and not have to take it to one game. I think even if the Cubs win only one game in that final series, it should be enough that it won’t make much difference – Cubs win. Can the Cardinals do any better in the last 30 days on the road?

Chicago Cubs: Who do the Cardinals have to face on the road?

The Cardinals will play the Pirates and the Cubs on the road and will also play the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies who are (34-31) at home. I don’t think the Pirates will give the Cardinals too much trouble with the Cards most likely winning two of three.

The Cubs will get a chance during a four-game series at Wrigley Field to put the hurt on the Cardinals. Immediately following that intense four-game series with the Cubs, the Cardinals have to fly to Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks. Hopefully, the series will soften up the Cardinals and Arizona can win one of the games in that series as well.

Next. The Cubs could use all the pitching they can get vs. Crew. dark

For both teams, the road may be most difficult in each other’s park. I see the Cubs coming off the road with a (7-7) record. The Cardinals may do a little better on the road in the last 30 days with a (7-6) record. If you add up the home and road predictions for the last 30 days, I see the Cubs finishing the month of September (16-11) and the Cardinals at (14-13).

Will those two games be enough for the Cubs to take the Division?

Will it be legendary or wait ’till next year?

This I gotta see.

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