Saturday's game between the Cubs and Cardinals could be full of goodbyes. Not to the Cubs chances of making the playoffs, they said bye to to those in May, but to some players with the trade deadline tomorrow afternoon. Saturday could end the Cubs career for guys like Carlos Pena, Marlon Byrd, Aramis Ramirez, Reed Johnson, Carlos Zambrano, or others. The Cubs are definitely sellers this trade deadline and have a few players teams want and the Cubs have some salaries they would like to get off the books. One other item the Cubs would like to say goodbye to on Saturday is their current four-game losing streak.
Rodrigo Lopez will get the start for the Cubs in game two of the series. Lopez has been a pleasant surprise for the Cubs this season. The veteran righty comes in to Saturday's game with a 2-2 record and an ERA of 3.49. Lopez has been very impressive of late. In his last four starts, Lopez is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.85. Albert Pujols has struggled in his career against Lopez going just 1-13. That one hit unfortunately for the Cubs was a walkoff homer back in June.
Kyle Lohse will start for St. Louis Sunday looking to give the Cardinals a series victory. Lohse is 8-7 on the season with an ERA of 3.46. No other player is looking forward to July ending than Lohse. In his four starts this month, the Cardinals righty is 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA. The Cardinals as a team have lost seven of the last eight games Lohse has started. In his 11 career starts against the Cubs, Lohse is just 1-4 with an ERA of 6.51.
The forecast in St. Louis at the time of first pitch is temps in the low 90's under partly cloudy skies. First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 CST. The game will be televised on Fox.