Saturday and Sunday, the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals are squaring off for a two-game series in London. It is the second London Series staged by Major League Baseball after the Red Sox and Yankees played a pair of games in 2019. The Cubs took Game 1 of the series, 9-1 (takeaways here).
The Cardinals, meantime, are scrambling to prepare for the second game.
Sunday's originally scheduled starting pitcher Jack Flaherty has been scratched due to hip discomfort (via Derrick Goold). Manager Oli Marmol said Saturday that Flaherty's injury is not enough to land him on the IL (via Jeff Jones). Still, they need a replacement starter for Sunday and that honor goes to Matthew Liberatore, the Cardinals announced after Saturday's loss.
To make matters worse, there's an illness sweeping through the Cardinals' clubhouse with reliever Jordan Hicks, second baseman Nolan Gorman and outfielder Jordan Walker among those who have been affected.
After Saturday's loss, the Cardinals sit in last place in the NL Central with a 31-45 record, 10 games out of first. They had won four of five before the loss Saturday.
Liberatore, 23, is 1-2 with a 6.12 ERA and 1.56 WHIP this season. He faced the Cubs twice last season, allowing six runs on nine hits in six innings.
The Cubs will counter with Marcus Stroman, who is the NL ERA leader at 2.28 so far this season.
Sunday's game is set for 10:10 a.m. ET on ESPN.
