Two teams in the thick of the MLB playoff chase will battle in a nationally-televised game on Tuesday night. The Chicago Cubs currently hold the lead of their division but have several teams right on their heels. One of those teams is the St. Louis Cardinals, who have a shot to take the division or an MLB wild card spot. Here's the latest Cubs vs. Cardinals game preview with matchup odds, TV channel, game time, and live streaming options.

MLB game preview

As of this report, the Chicago Cubs are sitting pretty as the NL Central division leaders. They're currently six games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers and seven games ahead of tonight's opponents.

The Cubs have won two straight including yesterday's 10-2 win over the Cardinals. They also picked up a recent 3-1 series win against Milwaukee to solidify their division lead. ESPN lists Chicago as having a 99.9 percent chance of making the playoffs at this point, but they'd love to wrap up the division.

The St. Louis Cardinals are still fighting with several other National League teams fora NL Wild Card spot. The team has hurt their chances, though, as they've now dropped three-straight. In the recent loss to the Cubs, they managed six hits but were only able to put two runs on the board thanks to Jedd Gyorko and Luke Voit. Each of these players belted home runs in the 10-2 loss, while pitcher Luke Weaver gave up seven hits for eight runs to Chicago.

Basically, St. Louis needs to start winning as the season winds down, as they're currently 2.5 games back from the Colorado Rockies for the second of two playoff spots with Milwaukee one game ahead of them in that pursuit.

Odds makers have given the home team the role of favorites tonight. St. Louis is -1.5 on the run line and -113 on the moneyline, while Chicago is a +103 underdog.

Eight runs is the over/under runs total for bettors to contemplate on tonight's matchup.

How to watch the game live

Tuesday night's Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals game is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. This MLB game will be nationally televised on ESPN. Cable and satellite subscribers can also watch the Cubs vs.

Cardinals live streaming online via WatchESPN at their website or on compatible mobile apps.

SlingTV also offers the ESPN channel as part of its live streaming channel lineup. Customers who want to try out the service can sign up for a one-week free trial and select Sling Orange to enjoy ESPN, ESPN2, and a number of other television channels. See more details at the Sling.com website for how to join and use the service.
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