The rivalry between the St. Louis Cardinals (53-28, +20.28 Units) and the Chicago Cubs (44-36 SU, +4.36 Units) will only be made more intense on Tuesday when the hated teams have to play against each other twice.
PITCHING MATCHUP
No formal announcement has been made by either team regarding the pitching matchups in this doubleheader. The Cardinals are going to be using some combination of Tyler Lyons and Tim Cooney, while the Cubs will be using Jake Arrieta and a pitcher to be named later, possibly the recently demoted Donn Roach.
Either way, this is a big advantage here for Chicago, and it will be a huge advantage for the Cubs if Arrieta ends up pitching.
Arrieta is the only one of these four pitchers who could last more than six innings, which is crucial when you're talking about a doubleheader.
In fact, Arrieta has pitched eight, seven and nine innings in his last three starts, and he has allowed just a total of two runs in that stretch.
Fatigue is a little bit of an issue here with Arrieta. He has thrown an average of 108.5 pitches per game in his last four starts, and he has had just one extra day off in the middle of it all.
If you think that Arrieta is going to be a problem for live bettors in the late innings, Lyons and Cooney are both big issues, too. These two men have only combined for seven starts at the big league level, and they have combined to throw just 31.1 innings of work in those outings.
Mike Matheny is going to have to be inclined to leave whichever starter he uses for Game 1 of this double dip for a little bit longer than he might if he was only playing one game on this day, and that could give live bettors a real clue as to when the Cubs are going to have opportunities to score tons of runs.
ADVANCED STATS
Cooney and Lyons have combined to allow eight home runs in their starts this year at the big league level. The Cubs have been blasting the ball at times this year, knocking 75 home runs. What's better for Chicago is that slugger Jorge Soler is back in the fold from a month-long stint on the DL with an ankle injury.
Without Soler for the last month, the North Siders have only had a .134 ISO, ranking No. 21 of the 30 teams in the league, but bringing back a man who had an ISO of .446 at the Double-A level and a .336 ISO at the Triple-A level last season with the Cubs could make a huge difference in a game like this.
When Chicago is getting to the middle of its lineup, especially the second and third time around the batting order, you know that's the perfect time to get onboard in live betting.
TALKING BULLPENS
We would bet dollars to donuts that Carlos Villanueva is going to end up pitching here for the Cardinals at some point in Game 1.
Villanueva is the long man, and if he is called upon to pitch multiple innings, St. Louis might be in for a bad time.
The righty tossed two or more innings four times in the month of June, and only once did he get out of those frames without allowing at least two hits.
Villanueva is who he is at this point in his career. He has had an ERA in the fours in each of his last five seasons, including doing so each of the last two years with the Cubs. You know what you're getting into for live betting when Villanueva is on the bump. At the first sign of trouble for him, it's time to fade away on the Redbirds.
The MLB lines for this Tuesday contest will first be released by BookMaker Sportsbook. Gamble on the game between every half inning with BookMaker's live betting feature. Along with an adjusted in-game moneyline, you can wager on what will happen in the next at-bat or how many runs will be scored in the next inning. Live betting is the most exciting way to play!
Need to fund your account before the big game but don't have your computer? No problem! BookMaker Sportsbook now offers a mobile betting cashier so you can deposit money directly from your smartphone. Don't miss out on getting paid because you couldn't bet. Click here, and deposit at BookMaker now! The ballgame pitting the St. Louis Cardinals versus the Chicago Cubs will commence Tuesday, July 7, 2015 at 1:20 p.m. ET at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL. You can watch the contest live on the MLB Network.
