It wouldn't hurt if Albert Pujols decided to play one more game for the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon, considering he's 22 for 39 (.564) in his career versus Chicago Cubs SP Paul Maholm, but we'll move on without him:
- St. Louis has averaged 7.58 runs per game when facing left-handed starters in 12 daytime contests this year, scoring five or more runs in every game except one (three against the Pirates). It's important to note that the Cards scored two runs in the first inning of that affair.
- Maholm has been victimized in two of those aforementioned contests, with the Cardinals scoring 17 combined runs (7, 10)
- The Cubs left-hander has made four career starts in umpire Mike Winters strike zone, allowing 20 earned runs in 24 innings of work (7.49 ERA, 5 HR)
- Cardinals SS Rafael Furcal will be out of the lineup for a second straight day, which hurts due to his .360 average (9 for 25) in matching up against the southpaw, but went just 1 for 6 from the plate in the earlier two meetings in 2012
Sports bettors have the green light in playing the OVER on the team total, as long as the usual suspects are in the lineup Sunday, which should happen due to the Cardinals having an off day on Monday