St. Louis at Chicago

Andre Pallante takes the mound for St. Louis with a 3.83 ERA and the kind of length I trust, six-plus innings most nights, that keeps his bullpen fresh. Chicago counters with David Peterson, making just his second start in a Cubs uniform after a rocky stretch in New York, and while his last outing was serviceable, a 5.86 ERA over a full season says more about who he is right now than one clean five and two-thirds. The Cubs' offense has been the best in baseball over the past two weeks, but that heat has come almost entirely at Wrigley against soft pitching, not a Cardinals staff that ranks solidly in the middle of the league. St. Louis is 22-18 on the road and has already stayed competitive in this series. Getting a run and a half with a rotation arm as reliable as Pallante against an unproven Cubs starter is more cushion than this matchup calls for. The Cardinals win on the runline tonight.