After sustaining a broken left middle finger and landing on the 10-day injured list, Chicago Cubs slugger Cody Bellinger expressed confidence in his team’s ability to roll on without him.
“We’ve got a bunch of guys around me that are more than capable to continue to get the job done,” Bellinger said. “They’ve been swinging it well.”
The Cubs have won two straight games without Bellinger and five straight overall. They won 5-1 on Friday to open their four-game road series against the St. Louis Cardinals, and they will try to extend that run on Saturday in a split doubleheader.
Chicago had its scoreless-innings-pitched streak stopped at 32 on Friday. The Cubs also lost reliever Luke Little to a shoulder injury.
However, they are getting Javier Assad (4-3, 3.04 ERA) back from the 15-day injured list to start Game 2 on Saturday. The right-hander has recovered from a forearm strain.
Hayden Wesneski (3-5, 3.67 ERA) will start Game 1 for Chicago. He is coming off a 5-0 victory over the Angels on Sunday in his latest start. He held Los Angeles to one hit and one walk in 6 1/3 innings while striking out two.
Wesneski is 1-2 with a 3.41 ERA in six starts this season, and he has held opponents to a .192 batting average in that role.
He pitched an inning of relief against the Cardinals on June 14 and allowed one hit, a solo homer by Pedro Pages. Wesneski is 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA in three career appearances against St. Louis, including one start.
Assad took a 4-3 loss at St. Louis on May 26, when he allowed four runs on five hits and three walks in five innings. He served up two Paul Goldschmidt homers in that game.
In seven career appearances against St. Louis, including two starts, Assad is 0-2 with a 2.95 ERA.
The Cardinals, who have lost three consecutive games, will start Lance Lynn (4-4, 4.48 ERA) in Game 1 and Kyle Gibson (7-3, 3.96) in Game 2.
Lynn will try to rebound from a horrendous outing. After allowing a total of one run on six hits in 12 2/3 innings while winning his previous two starts, Lynn gave up 11 runs (10 earned) on nine hits, including three homers, and four walks against the Washington Nationals on July 6.
“I think it was the worst start of my career, and it feels like it,” Lynn said. “They did a good job of getting me out of what I do. They put good swings on balls. I wasn’t executing pitches either. When you have all of that in one day, it’s a bad day.”
Lynn has struggled against the Cubs in his career, going 6-8 with a 5.43 ERA in 24 career appearances, including 23 starts.
Gibson has allowed 11 runs on 18 hits and eight walks over 14 innings in his past three starts. However, he also struck out 20 batters in those outings and earned two victories due to strong run support.
He had his best start of the season against the Cubs, holding them to two hits and a walk while striking out six in seven innings during a 3-0 victory on June 14.
Gibson is 1-4 with a 4.94 ERA in five career starts against the Cubs.
