St. Louis Cardinals: The week ahead

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After a well-deserved night off following a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs, the St. Louis Cardinals stay in Chicago to start this week but welcome a team from the South Side.

The way the Cardinals are playing, they could take on Bad Bad Leroy Brown. Forget the jigsaw puzzle, all the pieces would be gone.

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Now that the obscure 1970s singing reference is out of the way, let’s take a look at what the Cardinals have for the coming week.

Tuesday and Wednesday: Chicago White Sox

The Cardinals bring in the White Sox to start the week. Chicago is having a rough season as the White Sox are ranked 28th overall in batting average (.240). Their power numbers haven’t been much better either, with just 54 home runs total.

Jose Abreu (.291-13-41) is having a solid season and Avisail Garcia (.270-7-29) are the top hitters on the roster, but Lance Lynn is ready to shut down all of the White Sox hitting. Chris Sale is the first pitcher for the White Sox in this series, and he is having a strong stretch with several games of 10 or more strikeouts. The problem Sale has is no hitting.

Jose Quintana goes for the White Sox in the finale, while John Lackey pitches for the Cardinals.

Thursday through Sunday: San Diego Padres

The Cardinals close out the week by facing another light-hitting team in the Padres, but St. Louis has some issues about who will start the series off. Jaime Garcia might return, but if he can’t go due to groin issues then the team has a problem.

St. Louis needs to hold its own in the six games this week, because the week prior to the All-Star break features games against the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates, all on the road.