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The St. Louis Cardinals return home after being swept by the Dodgers in three games and will face the Los Angles Angels. It’s time to continue our MLB odds series with an Angels-Cardinals prediction pick, and how to watch.
The Cardinals are last in the NL Central and have lost ten of their last 14 games overall. In their ten losses, they have been shut out twice and scored four or fewer runs in each of the losses. In the three wins in that time, they have scored six or more each time. On the season, the Cardinals have only lost twice when they score five or more runs. Conversely, they have only won twice when scoring under five runs. Meanwhile, the Angels have won five of their last eight games and had some major scoring outbursts. They have totals of 11, 10, and eight twice in their last eight games.
Here are the Angels-Cardinals MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Angels-Cardinals Odds
Los Angeles Angels: +1.5 (-192)
St. Louis Cardinals: -1.5 (+158)
Over: 8.5 (-122)
Under: 8.5 (+100)
How To Watch Angels vs. Cardinals
TV: BSW/BSMW
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 Angels Could Cover The Spread
The Angels are 15-14 on the season and sit third in the AL West. They are a middle-of-the-pack offense right now, hitting .250, with an on-base percentage of .316. They are hitting for power though, with 39 home runs on the season, which sits sixth in the majors. This has led to 148 runs on the season, which is good for eighth in MLB. The combination of Hunter Renfroe, Shohei Ohtani, and Mike Trout has been potent on the season.
Renfroe leads the team in RBIs with 20 of them and is tied for the team lead with seven home runs. He has the worst OBP of the group, but it is still sitting at .325 on the year. Ohtani has 18 RBIs, and also seven homeruns. He is hitting .294 on the year and has scored 18 times this season. Trout has the best OBP of the group, sitting at .395. He also has seven home runs, and his OPS of .984 sits 9th in the majors. When the three of them get going, the offense is a tough one to handle.
On the hill will be Patrick Sandoval. On the season, Sandoval is 2-1 with a 3.16 ERA. In his last outing, he gave up two earned runs and a homerun to the Athletics, but the Angels scored 11 to secure his second win of the year. For some reason, the Angels are having trouble fielding behind him. He has three unearned runs this year to his credit. When Sandoval has gotten run support, it has been easy for him. In the two starts, he has more than three runs of support, and he has won. The team has lost the other three.
Why The Cardinals Could Cover The Spread
If the magic number is five runs for a win for the Cardinals, they are hitting well enough to get there. The Cards are sixth in the majors in batting average, and seventh in on-base percentage. The problem is, they are hitting just .253 with runners in scoring position, which is 13th in the majors. they have grounded into seven double plays in those situations and only have five sacrifice flies to their credit.
Tommy Edman has been the major struggle in that department. He is hitting just .182 with runners in scoring position. Paul Goldschmidt is a little better, hitting .233, but that is below his career average. Conversely, Wilson Contreras and Jordan Walker are both over .333 on the season and providing a major boost to the offense.
On the hill tonight will be Steven Matz. The Cardinals may need to score more than five runs with Matz on the mound. He is currently 0-3 with a 6.23 ERA on the season. In the three losses, he has given up at least four runs in each of them. He has also given up a home run in four of the five games. In the two games, he got a no-decision, he limited the opposing team to two runs in each, but the Cardinals still lost.
Final Angels-Cardinals Prediction & Pick
It sounds a little ridiculous to say the team that scores the most will win, but that is the case today. Neither pitcher is a shut down pitcher, and both teams have had limited success in the season. When they have had success, it is because they are scoring at a high margin. While Sandoval is not the best pitcher in the world, he is doing much better than Matz, and the Angels are hitting fairly well as of late.
Final Angels-Cardinals Prediction & Pick: Angels +1.5 (-192)