The St. Louis Cardinals spoiled the Chicago Cubs' 2015 debut on Opening Night with a 3-0 win on Sunday. Chicago hopes to get that one back on Wednesday afternoon after Tuesday night's game was postponed.
St. Louis will send starter Lance Lynn (15-10 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.262 WHIP in 2014) to the mound to face Chicago's Jake Arrieta (10-5 with a 2.53 ERA and 0.989 WHIP in 2014) at 2:20 p.m. ET. Lynn only faced the Cubs once last year at Wrigley Field and earned a no-decision after surrendering two runs on three hits and four walks.
On the other hand, Arrieta faced the Cardinals four times in 2014 and absolutely dominated them, finishing 1-0 with a 1.21 ERA, 1.075 WHIP and 28 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings. He gave up three earned runs in those four starts, but failed to get any run support from a struggling Cubs' offense, which ranked 26th in the MLB last season in terms of runs scored (614).
Those struggles continued on Sunday night when Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals' bullpen held Chicago to five hits and no runs.
But the Cubs hope their cast of youngsters, which includes Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro, Arismendy Alcantara and Jorge Soler, can inject some offensive firepower and turn around the ship around in 2015. Chicago also has prospects Kris Bryant and Javier Baez getting some time in the minor leagues before they're called up at some point during the first half of the season.
In the meantime, manager Joe Maddon is confident his team can compete with the better clubs in the MLB, such as the Cardinals, who have been among the league's best over the past decade.
"If you're going to get to the playoffs and win the World Series, you have to beat some good folks," Maddon said, via ESPN.com. "We're not going to shy away from anybody. Bring 'em on."
While the Cubs improved their roster this offseason, so did the Cardinals. St. Louis acquired outfielder Jason Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden from the Atlanta Braves and witnessed solid progression from prospects Randal Grichuk and Carlos Martinez.
Nonetheless, today is all about the pitching matchup between Lynn and Arrieta. The young starters hope to build off successful campaigns from 2014 and it begins at Wrigley Field on Wednesday afternoon.
Check out the live stream for today's game here as well as the live radio broadcast here (if you're a Cubs fan) or here (if you're a Cardinals fan).
