Cardinals look for repeat performance from Lackey in opener vs. Cubs

Joe Maddon knows that if his Chicago Cubs want to be considered a serious postseason contender, they must prove themselves against the best teams in baseball.

They'll get another chance starting Friday night on the road against the major league-leading St. Louis Cardinals.

Chicago (39-32) already took the season series from NL East-leading Washington and prevailed over Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke while splitting a four-game home set with the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers this week.

"Pretty good showdown this weekend," St. Louis pitcher Lance Lynn said.

The Cubs, however, have dropped four of the first six meetings with the Cardinals (48-24) ahead of returning to Busch Stadium, where they won only once despite leading in two other contests during a four-game series last month.

"The gap is repetition and experience," Maddon said after that May series. "They out-competed us in a sense, experience-wise, and that's it. We will make that up."

Sitting third in the Central, Chicago is 8 1/2 games behind the Cardinals, who beat Miami 5-1 on Thursday for their 21st victory in 29 contests. They can improve to 27-7 at home with a seventh consecutive win there.

"When you're playing them head up, you definitely want to make some noise," Maddon told MLB's official website. "But I don't want our guys to approach it any differently. I don't want them to think they have to play any harder, any better - just go play."

Looking to avoid a third straight defeat, Chicago has totaled three runs in as many games and faces a stiff challenge against John Lackey (6-4, 3.41 ERA), who is 5-1 with a 1.81 ERA in seven home starts and is seeking his fifth consecutive win at Busch Stadium.

That streak began May 7 when Lackey gave up a run and struck out 10 in 7 2/3 innings of a 5-1 victory over the Cubs.

The right-hander has been about as tough while yielding three runs in 15 innings to win his last two overall. He has also completed seven or more innings in four of his last five outings.

"I take pride in throwing innings for sure," Lackey said after giving up a run through seven of Saturday's 10-1 win at Philadelphia. "That's something I've taken pride in my whole career."

Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are a combined 0 for 9 with five strikeouts versus Lackey.

Mired in a 3-for-23 slump, Bryant will look to get back on track if he's healthy enough to play after leaving Thursday's 4-0 loss to Los Angeles because of the flu. Rizzo, who had three hits, is batting .385 with six homers and 13 RBIs in his last 13 road games.

Jake Arrieta (7-5, 3.07) allowed three hits in seven innings of a 2-0 victory April 8 to improve to 3-0 with an 0.74 ERA in his first six starts against the Cardinals. He then yielded five runs in 5 1/3 innings while opposing Lackey last month.

Arrieta, however, can build on the four-hitter he recorded while throwing a career-high 122 pitches in Sunday's 8-0 win at Minnesota.

Jason Heyward has gone 5 for 12 against the right-hander and is batting .458 (11 for 24) versus Chicago this season.

Teammate Kolten Wong has four hits in two games and seven RBIs during his last five. He's batting .364 with eight RBIs during a 12-game home hitting streak against the Cubs.