Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals preview, Sunday 7/5, 1:30 CT

Sunday notes… DON’T GET SWEPT: The Cubs have not been swept in a series of at least three games against the Cardinals since Sept. 2-4, 2022, at St. Louis. This is the 14th series since then, including one in 2024 in which the Cards won the only two games. The Cubs lost the first two, then won, in tw

What is the story about?

Sunday notes…

DON’T GET SWEPT: The Cubs have not been swept in a series of at least three games against the Cardinals since Sept. 2-4, 2022, at St. Louis. This is the 14th series since then, including one in 2024 in which the Cards won the only two games. The Cubs lost the first two, then won, in two series, last year at St. Louis and in 2023 at home. The last time the Cubs were swept by the Cards at Wrigley Field was Sept. 24-26, 2021, when they played four games in three days. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)

AFTER 134 YEARS, ALL EVEN: By winning 3-0 last night, the Cardinals tied the all-time run count in games vs. the Cubs. Each team now has scored 11,058 runs in their 2,531 meetings going back to 1892 . The Cubs have won 52 more games, 1,282-1,230, and there have been 19 ties. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
THE NUMBER OF THE COUNTING SHALL BE THREE: Last night’s game was the ninth the Cubs have lost this season when they have allowed three or fewer runs. They have won 30. They are 6-4 when allowing exactly three. They are 38-13 with no more than four allowed; 11-27 with at least five. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: Sean Marshall, Bob Howry and Ryan Dempster combined on a seven-hit shutout and the Cubs beat the Astros 1-0 in Houston. It happened 20 years ago today, Wednesday, July 5, 2006.

Cubs lineup:

Cardinals lineup:

Javier Assad, RHP vs. Matthew Liberatore, LHP

Javier Assad had some rough starts early this year, then spent some time in Triple-A, then was recalled due to injury.

He was on a seven-start run with an ERA of 1.80 and a WHIP of 0.767 when he was called on in relief in Tuesday’s game against the Padres. He threw well for a while, then ran out of gas and served up a couple of home runs. Hopefully that

was just a one-off and he’ll be fine now that he’s starting on regular rest.

His last start against the Cardinals was Sept. 28, 2025 at Wrigley Field, the last day of the regular season. He threw 5.1 shutout innings. Perhaps he can match that today.

Matthew Liberatore has been hit pretty hard this year, to the tune of a 5.33 ERA with 17 home runs allowed in 82.2 innings. He did throw 5.1 shutout innings against the Cubs May 31 in St. Louis and five one-hit innings (though four walks) in his last outing, June 30 vs. the Braves.

So, your guess is as good as mine.

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Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is streaming on Peacock (full national broadcast, no blackouts). Announcers: Alex Cohen, Mark Sweeney and Taylor McGregor.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Cardinals site Viva el Birdos. If you do go there to interact with Cardinals fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.