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With only a week to go in the regular season, the St. Louis Cardinals will battle it out with the Milwaukee Brewers in a matchup with major playoff implications on the line. Join us for our odds series, where our Cardinals-Brewers prediction and pick will be revealed.
Despite being losers in five of their previous seven matchups, the Cardinals will have a tremendous opportunity over the course of the next couple of days to clinch the NL Central crown and make life difficult for the Brewers to reach postseason play. Leading the season series versus Milwaukee by a score of 9-8, St. Louis will send out RHP Miles Mikolas in an attempt to silence the Brewers bats.
With a record of 82-71, the Brewers saw their four-game winning streak snapped on Sunday as they narrowly lost a close one to the Reds by a score of 2-1 out on the road. Now returning home to The Badger State, it is do-or-die time for a Brewers squad that is 1.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot in the NL with only nine games remaining in the season. With their season hanging in the balance, Milwaukee will call upon right-hander Adrian Houser, who is 6-9 with a 4.62 ERA on the year.
Here are the Cardinals-Brewers MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Cardinals-Brewers Odds
St. Louis Cardinals: -1.5 (+146)
Milwaukee Brewers: +1.5 (-176)
Over: 8.5 (-106)
Under: 8.5 (-114)
Why The Cardinals Could Cover The Spread
While things haven't been picture-perfect of late in the Show Me State, the Cardinals have played well for a majority of the year and have put themselves in a great position in the division race with a little over a week to go until the postseason arrives. When it comes to covering the spread later this evening against the Brewers, the Cardinals need to nip the losing streak in the butt before it gets too out of hand.
After playing in one of their more well-rounded contests of the season in an 11-0 route of the Dodgers, St. Louis quickly went south as they dropped the next two versus LA as they head into Milwaukee limping and in desperate need of some offensive fireworks. In their last two games, St. Louis has only mustered up a total of three runs. Nevertheless, the strength of this Red Birds team starts at the plate, as they have posted top-ten marks in runs scored, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. Also, they possess two of the more feared hitters in the game in Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, who could both explode for a big day at any possible moment. If St. Louis is going to cover the spread, expect them to get going offensively early and often.
Not to mention, the Cardinals will be in good hands with Miles Mikolas on the mound, as he is 7-4 in 12 career appearances against the Brewers with a 3.38 ERA at American Family Field. With the tall and lanky hurler on the mound, the Cardinals can put their best foot forward by keeping the Milwaukee offense in check.
Why The Brewers Could Cover The Spread
For starters, the Brewers close the regular season with nine consecutive home games down the stretch in an attempt to reach the postseason for the sixth year in a row. While Milwaukee certainly hasn't taken the easiest route to try to remain as one of the top teams in baseball this season, the Brewers still have a shot starting with a Tuesday evening meeting with their divisional rivals.
Without a doubt, the Brewers cannot afford to lose this one. In order for them to come out victorious and cover the spread at the same time, Milwaukee must find their bats like they did in the three games prior to Sunday's defeat to the Reds. During their winning streak, the Brewers could not be stopped at the plate as they terrorized opposing pitching for 26 runs in those four games combined. With the sense of urgency at an all-time high, the Brewers can't afford to go cold in the most vital moments of the season. As a whole, Milwaukee has scored the ninth-most runs in the league and possesses a very effective .411 slugging percentage that further illustrates how dangerous this lineup can be when they are clicking on all cylinders.
When it comes to their pitching staff, the Brewers may be even more elite than with the bats in their hands. On the season, Milwaukee has posted an extremely effective 3.90 team ERA while holding teams to only a .231 batting average through their 153 games played. Not to mention, but the expected starter in Adrian Houser has been brilliant in his career versus the Red Birds, as he has accumulated a 4-4 record to go along with a 2.89 ERA in 13 career games. If Houser can get dialed in, then the Brewers should have an excellent chance of covering the spread.
Final Cardinals-Brewers Prediction & Pick
In one of the more underrated rivalries in all of baseball, this one should be a treat. However, it would be wise to side with the Brewers in this one and rely on their overall desperation to win and stay in the playoff hunt.
Final Cardinals-Brewers Prediction & Pick: Brewers +1.5 (-176)
