Tonight at 8:10 p.m. ET, the Chicago Cubs (13-10) and St. Louis Cardinals (18-6) take the field to open up a four-game set live from Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Chicago opens up a seven-game road trip while St. Louis rides a six-match winning streak into the contest and continues an 11-game homestand it is 6-1 on.
The Cubs dropped two of three to the division rival Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend while the Cardinals swept away their division foe Pittsburgh Pirates in three meetings.
This game can be live streamed for free here.
Travis Wood (2-1, 3.04 ERA) toes the rubber for Chicago while St. Louis counters with Carlos Martinez and he is 3-0 thus far this season with a stingy 1.73 ERA, which ranks fourth in the National League.
The Cubs lost 5-3 against the Brewers on Sunday to drop the three-game series. Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant each picked up their 11th RBI of the campaign in the loss.
Chicago manager Joe Maddon grew up rooting for St. Louis, but he places no more importance on this meeting than any other game.
"I think every game is a big game," Maddon told MLB.com. "I never apply more weight to a game than another game. We talked about it in spring training that you play the game the same way in March that you do in October. So when you go out and play it doesn't feel any different, and that's a good thing. From a fan's perspective, I get [the rivalry]."
The Cardinals defeated the Pirates 3-2 in 14 innings on Sunday to extend their winning streak. Kolten Wong hit his first career walk-off homer in the game while Matt Carpenter launched his fourth long ball of the campaign in the fourth inning.
Carpenter is fifth in the MLB with a .365 batting average and leads the league with 14 doubles. Matt Holliday is tied for fourth in the majors with a .455 on-base percentage this season.
Rizzo leads the MLB with a .471 on-base percentage while Dexter Fowler is tied for fourth in the NL with seven stolen bases.
St. Louis sits in first place in the NL Central and has the best record in the MLB while Chicago is in second place and 4.5 games back.
Two NL Central Division rivals open up a four-game set when the Cubs and Cardinals clash tonight at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
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