This is a small holiday play for my own enjoyment -- one of my great memories in life was attending a July 4 Cards-Cubs game at Wrigley way back when (no team has played on the holiday more in history than the Cubbies), and this is the first St. Louis visit of the season. The Old Style will be flowing in the bleachers. I can't justify backing the Cubs with Colin Rea on the mound. And I'm certainly not ever betting the Cards at Wrigley. Ian Happ is a career .325 hitter off Miles Mikolas with an OBP near .400. He's also leading off today. I tend to think there will be plenty of runs and Happ might cash this for us in B1.

In yesterday’s 1-0 win over the Guardians, Michael Busch struck out three times. Three out of the four prior instances of striking out three times Busch has followed up with big games. This includes his best game of the season when he went 4 for 6 with two home runs and a double against the Dodgers. Play Busch’s total bases over.