The St. Louis Cardinals wrap up their road trip as they take on the Oakland Athletics Wednesday night. Below we will continue our MLB odds series with a Cardinals-Athletics prediction and pick. We will also let you know how to watch the game.
Steven Matz will take the ball for the Cardinals. Paul Blackburn gets the start for the Athletics.
Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Cardinals-Athletics Odds
St. Louis Cardinals: -1.5 (+114)
Moneyline: -148
Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (-137)
Moneyline: +126
Over: 8 (-110)
Under: 8 (-110)
How to Watch Cardinals vs. Athletics
Time: 3:37 PM ET/12:37 PM PT
TV: Bally Sports Midwest, NBC Sports California
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Cardinals Will Cover The Spread/Win
Matz has started off the season hot. He has made three starts, and has pitched well in all of them. In fact, Matz has yet to allow more than two earned runs in any start this season. He is not a strikeout pitcher, but he pitches to his strengths extremely well. He will not walk people, and he does not give up a lot of hard hits. Because of this, Matz has found success so far this season. If he can continue this against the Athletics, the Cardinals are going to win this game.
Oakland has not hit the ball well this season. They are bottom-3 in batting average, on-base percentage, hits, average exit velocity, zone contact rate, chase contact rate, and whiff percentage. Matz should have no problem keeping the Athletics off balance in this game. As long as he continue to pitch to his strengths, the Cardinals will be in good shape.
Why The Athletics Will Cover The Spread/Win
Blackburn has been a breath of fresh air for the Athletics this season. In three starts, he has not allowed a single run. Oakland has won all three of his starts, as well. He is pitching like an early Cy Young candidate, and that has to continue if the Athletics want to win this series finale. The good news is Blackburn has shown no signs of slowing down, and if he can get Mason Miller the ball with the lead, Oakland can win this game.
Blackburn does not give up hard hits, and he does a great job staying off the barrel and getting ground balls. The Cardinals will put the ball on the ground, and they will not do it with a lot of exit velocity. This is going to play right into Blackburn's strengths. Blackburn should be able to get plenty of weak contact in this one. With Blackburn on the mound, expect the Athletics to at least keep this game close.
Final Cardinals-Athletics Prediction & Pick
Do no expect an onslaught of runs here. In fact, expect the opposite. Both pitchers are throwing the ball extremely well, so I would not be surprised to see the under hit in this game. With that said, it is still very hard to bet on the Athletics. They have not won either of the first two games this series, and are overall the worse team in this game. However, Paul Blackburn does make that a little bit easier with his performances heading into this game. For that reason, I am going to take the Athletics to cover this spread and keep the game within a run.
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Final Cardinals-Athletics Prediction & Pick: Athletics +1.5 (-137)
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