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The St.Louis Cardinals are on the verge of being swept by the San Francisco Giants as they play came four of their series. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Cardinals-Giants prediction, pick, and how to watch.
Last night it was Paul Goldschmidt going four for five, with two home runs, a double, and two RBIs to help pace the Cardinals, but it was not enough, as the bullpen gave up two runs in the seventh and another two in the eighth to lose 7-3. The Cardinals have now lost seven of their last nine games, and sit at the basement of the NL Central. The Giants have now won five straight games, but are still just 11-13 on the season.
Here are the Cardinals-Giants MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Cardinals-Giants Odds
St. Louis Cardinals: +1.5 (-162)
San Francisco Giants: -1.5 (+134)
Over: 8.5 (-108)
Under: 8.5 (-112)
How To Watch Cardinals vs. Giants
TV: Bally Sports Midwest, NBC Sports Bay Area
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 3:45 PM ET/12:45 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Cardinals Could Cover The Spread
The Cardinals are hitting well this year so far. They are hitting .267 as a team, which is good for fourth in the majors, with an on-base percentage that ranks third at .342. They are making good contact with the ball, sitting with a 20.9% strikeout rate, which is ninth in the league. Their biggest struggle on offense has been leaving runners in scoring positions. They leave an average of 3.60 runners in scoring position per game, which is 21st in MLB.
The offense is paced by second baseman Nolan Gorman, who has driven in 22 runs on the season while hitting .295. He has six home runs and five doubles to help drive in those runs and has walked 11 times. Paul Goldschmidt is having another great year as well. His OBP leads the team among qualified players, sitting at .417. When he gets on base, he scored a lot, leading the team with 16 runs scored on the year to go with his 13 RBIs. Tommy Edman is also showing some surprising power. He has four home runs this year, contributing to nine RBIs on the season. He also has one of the lowest strikeout rates on the team, striking out just 10 times in 75 at-bats.
The issue for the Cardinals has not been the offense, but the pitching staff. Specifically the starting pitching. the Cardinals have a team ERA that ranks 20th in MLB at 4.59, but the bullpen has an ERA of 3.99. Mike Mikolas, Steven Matz, and Jake Woodford all have ERAs of 5.00 this year and have struggled in their starts. Mike Mikolas will get a chance to improve his 7.46 ERA on the season today. Last start he went 5.1 innings giving up three runs. He has yet to have a start where he has not had three runs scored on him, although in one of the starts, only two were earned.
Why The Giants Could Cover The Spread
The Giants are a pretty average team overall. They are 17th in batting average, 15th in on-base percentage, and 16th in runs scored. On the pitching side, the Giants have a 15th-ranked team ERA, 14th-ranked WHIP, and 16th in strikeouts. Those are all middle-of-the-pack numbers overall, but there are a few areas that stick out. First, they have hit the fourth most home runs in the bigs at 38. While that is awesome, they are 28th in doubles, and the worst team in baseball at striking out. The offense is not great at producing runs or getting extra bases unless the ball leaves the yard.
It is not one guy who is tearing the cover off the ball, but a full team effort. J.D. Davis and Mike Yastrzemski lead the team with five home runs on the season but have also both struck out over 20 times this year. Thario Estrada, Wilmer Flores, Blake Sabol, and Micael Conforto all have four home runs each to add to the team total. Conforto is a major part of the strike-out problem though. While he has walked 12 times, he has also struck out 25, tied for the team lead with David Villar. If the Giants get more bats on balls, they will improve dramatically, going from average to great.
The Giants will send out Logan Webb in this one. Webb is just 1-4 in five starts, but his last start was great. He went seven innings, giving up five hits, and two earned runs in the game. Webb has struggled to keep the ball in the yard, giving up six home runs in his five starts this year. He has also not gotten run support this year. In his first four starts, his team scored a combined seven runs in the games.
Final Cardinals-Giants Prediction & Pick
Today's pitching match-up will not be making headlines, or even excite people, but both pitchers are capable of throwing a gem. At the same time, they are both more than capable of being horrid. It is difficult to sweep a team four games in a row, and for that to happen, Logan Webb will need to be near perfect. The Cardinals line up also need to get more production from all over the lineup. They get that today and cover the spread.
Final Cardinals-Giants Prediction & Pick: St. Louis +1.5 (-162)
