狐狸视频

Liberatore and the Cardinals host the division-leading Chicago Cubs at 6:45 p.m. Monday to start a four-game series at Busch Stadium. It's the first meeting of the two teams.

The聽left-hander Liberatore (4-6, 4.08 ERA) is coming off a strong start vs. the lowly Chicago White Sox in his last outing.

In the three starts before that last game, Liberatore had a 10.29 ERA.

Against the Cubs, Liberatore faces one of baseball's best offenses.

Liberatore's four-seamer, his most-thrown offering, has been his biggest trouble spot. In his first seven starts of the season, opponents were hitting .200 against it.

In the seven starts since, foes have a .422 average against it. In only one of those starts did he limit the opposing team to a sub.-300 batting average against the four-seamer.

Chicago's struggles against the fastball may turn out to be beneficial for Liberatore. The Cubs rank 25th in baseball with a .232 batting average against four-seamers. Opponents are attacking that. Only two teams have seen more four-seamers than Chicago.

Conversely, a high percentage of Chicago's few hits against pitch have been homers. The Cubs rank second in baseball with 44 home runs vs. the four-seamer.

Also in Liberatore's favor, the time may be right to face the Cubs. Though they have the second-most runs in baseball this season, Chicago is in the bottom third of baseball in runs scored this month, driven partly by the slumps of Nico Hoerner, Seiya Suzuki and Dansby Swanson.

The Cubs will send to the mound 25-year-old right-hander Ben Brown (4-5, 5.57 ERA), who has allowed six or more earned runs in three of his last six outings.

Brown has never faced 狐狸视频. His arsenal is mostly comprised of two pitches, a four-seamer and a knuckle curve, and foes have done most of their damage vs. that four-seamer.

At .276, 狐狸视频 has baseball's third-best batting average against the fastball as well as the third-fewest strikeouts (157).

Brown also throws a changeup for less than 5% of his pitches.

The Cardinals are 42-36, third in the National League Central and 4 1/2 games behind Chicago.

The Cubs are 46-31 and lead the division by 3 1/2 games over Milwaukee. At 21-16, the Cubs have the National League's best road record, but the Cubs are 7-8 in their last 15.

Roddery Munoz up, Gordon Graceffo down

Before the game, the Cardinals called up right-hander Roddery Munoz from Triple-A Memphis and sent fellow righty Gordon Graceffo back down to Memphis.

How to watch Cardinals vs. Cubs

When:聽6:45 p.m. Monday

Where:聽Busch Stadium in 狐狸视频

TV/radio: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest (); KMOX (1120 AM and 104.1 FM), other stations in the as well as .

Your options to watch: Input your ZIP code and see your choices for watching Cardinals games.

Lineups

CARDINALS

1. Brendan Donovan, 2B

2. Masyn Winn, SS

3. Alec Burleson, RF

4. Willson Contreras, 1B

5. Lars Nootbaar, LF

6. Nolan Arenado, 3B

7. Nolan Gorman, DH

8. Pedro Pag茅s, C

9. Victor Scott II, CF

P: Matthew Liberatore, LHP

CUBS

1. Ian Happ, LF

2. Kyle Tucker, RF

3. Seiya Suzuki, DH

4. Dansby Swanson, SS

5. Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF

6. Carson Kelly, C

7. Nico Hoerner, 2B

8. Justin Turner, 1B

9. Matt Shaw, 3B

P: Ben Brown, RHP

Injury report

Ivan Herrera, C/DH (left hamstring strain): Hererra felt a "pull" in his hamstring while running the bases Thursday during a game with the White Sox.聽He is expected to miss anywhere from two-to-six weeks with a Grade 2 strain in his left hamstring and went on the injured list on June 20.聽Updated June 20

Zack Thompson, LHP (shoulder, lat strain):聽Lefty starter has begun a throwing program designed to strengthen his arm after a long stretch without much activity. The shoulder has responded well and Thompson has felt progress with this program, which had to be restarted because his recovery stalled in May. There is no timetable for his return to the mound.聽Updated June 19