Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals Live Streaming

Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals Live | Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals | Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals Streaming | Chi Cubs vs St. Louis MLB Live Stream | Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals Live Webcast

8:05 pm EDT Fri Aug 13, 2010

Coming off an emphatic sweep that vaulted them into first place in the NL Central, the St. Louis Cardinals are playing with a profound swagger. That doesn’t bode well for the sputtering Chicago Cubs. Minus manager Tony La Russa, the surging Cardinals look to win their fourth in a row Friday night against the Cubs in the first meeting of the season between these clubs at Busch Stadium. St. Louis began a three-game series at Cincinnati on Monday two games back of the first-place Reds, but left with a one-game lead after outscoring them 21-8. Colby Rasmus hit his first career grand slam in Wednesday’s 6-1 win, and Matt Holliday finished the series 7 for 11 with four RBIs.

The series was made even more compelling by comments from Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips, who said he hates the Cardinals. Those remarks spurred a bench-clearing brawl in the first inning Tuesday. La Russa has been fined an undisclosed amount of money and suspended for the first two games of this series for his role in that skirmish. By responding to Phillips’ comments with a convincing sweep, St. Louis made a strong statement to the Reds that the defending NL Central champion won’t go down lightly. Jake Westbrook looks to set the tone for this series when he takes the ball, again seeking his first win with his new team. After allowing two runs and four hits with seven strikeouts in six innings without a decision in a 9-4 loss to Houston in his St. Louis debut Aug. 2, Westbrook gave up three runs while striking out a season-best nine in seven innings in Saturday’s 5-4, 10-inning loss to Florida.