Two teams well out of playoff contention face off as the Oakland Athletics visit the St. Louis Cardinals. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with an Athletics-Cardinals prediction, pick, and how to watch.
The Athletics come into this game after being swept by the Washington Nationals. It was a six runs ninth inning for the Nationals in the game yesterday that gave them the 8-7 win. The Athletics got some good starting pitching in the game as Ken Waldichuk gave up just one run in five innings. Adrian Martinez then gave up just one run in three innings of work, as the Athletics led 7-2 going into the bottom of the ninth. Then Trevor May would give up five runs in the ninth, and the Nationals would end up walking it off in the inning. That game places the Athletics at 33-85 on the season, the worst record in baseball.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals split their weekend series with the Royals, and have won four of their last five games. Overall, the Cardinals have struggled this year though. They are 52-66 on the season and 12.5 games out of first in the division. They are also 9.5 games out in the Wild Card race and last place in the division. Injuries have continued to pile up, and the season is heading toward loss.
Here are the Athletics-Cardinals MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Athletics-Cardinals Odds
Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (-115)
St. Louis Cardinals: -1.5 (-104)
Over: 9 (+100)
Under: 9 (-122)
How To Watch Athletics vs. Cardinals
TV: NBCSCA/BSSW
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 7:45 PM ET/ 4:45 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread
In the last five games, they have won just once, and it was also the only game the pitching did not let them down. On the year, the Athletics are 30th in Team ERA and WHIP, while sitting 28th in opponent batting average. They are also last in the league in quality starts this year. JP Sears will be on the mound today for the Athletics. He is 2-9 on the season with a 4.23 ERA. Things have not gone well for Sears this month. He has pitched nine innings and given up six runs in two starts. That is good for a 6.00 ERA. Meanwhile, he is 0-2. The Athletics have won just one of Sears's last six starts.
The offense for the Athletics has not helped much either this year. They are 30th in runs scored, batting average, and slugging. Meanwhile, they are 27th in on-base percentage. Still, some guys are hitting fairly well. That starts with Zack Gelof. He is hitting .348 over the last week with three home runs and five RBIs. He also has an on-base percentage of .400 in the last week, while hitting three doubles and scoring four times. Joining him in driving in runs is Seth Brown. Brown is hitting just .211 over the last week, but with a home run and a double, he has four RBIs. Brown has also scored once in the last week.
The Athletics have also made some noise on the bath path. Nick Allen has stolen three bases in the last week. He is hitting .250 in the last week with a double and an RBI. Meanwhile, Esteury Ruiz is hitting just .071, but when he has gotten on base it has been an issue. He has two stolen bases in the last week, which has led to him scoring once.
Why The Cardinals Could Cover The Spread
The Cardinal's offense has been pretty solid this year. They are 11th in the majors in runs scored while sitting fifth in on-base percentage, sixth in slugging, and seventh in batting average. There have been some very hot bats on the Cardinals as of late. Willson Contreras has been on fire in the last week. He is hitting .400 in the last week while he has a .500 on-base percentage. Meanwhile, he has hit two home runs and a double, leading to him having seven RBIs in the last week. He has also scored three times.
Joining him in hitting hot is Tommy Edman. In the last week, he is hitting .412 with a .474 on-base percentage. Edman has also hit three home runs and two doubles in the last week. This has led to him driving in four runs and scoring five times. Nolan Arenado has also scored five times in the last week. He is hitting .381 in the past week, with a .409 on-base percentage. He has a home run and a double, leading to three RBIs. Finally, Lars Nootbar is hitting .381 in the last week with a .458 on-base percentage. That has led to him scoring four times in the last week.
On the hill, today for the Cardinals will be Mile Mikolas. He is 6-8 on the season with a 4.20 ERA. Since getting ejected in his last start of July against the Cubs, he has been solid. He has made two starts, pitching 14 innings, giving up just five runs with only four earned. That gives him a 2.57 ERA since the start of August. Still, he has suffered from a lack of run support. The Cardinals lost both games, and he is 0-2 this month. Since the start of June, Mikolas has made 12 starts. The Cardinals have won just two of them while losing the other ten. In both games, he got solid run support, which he will need in this one.
Final Athletics-Cardinals Prediction & Pick
This game is much more about the Cardinal's offense than anything else. The Cardinals have multiple players hitting well. JP Sears is coming in off some rough starts, and he has not shown he can pitch well consistently. Miles Mikolas will normally give up between 2-4 runs in a start, so if the Cardinals can get to five runs, that should be enough to get the win. With how the lineup is hitting, plus the bonus of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, they will get to that marker. This year, when the Cardinals have scored five runs in a start for Mikolas, they are 7-4, with one of the losses being in extra innings. That gets to 8-4 today.
Final Athletics-Cardinals Prediction & Pick: Cardinals -1.5 (-104)