In the third game of the series between bitter division rivals that have split both games played thus far, the St. Louis Cardinals battle with the Milwaukee Brewers in a Saturday night clash. It is time to check out our MLB odds series, where our Cardinals-Brewers prediction and pick will be revealed.
LHP Steven Matz will be on the mound for St. Louis after he experienced a rocky Cardinals debut, getting shellacked with seven-earned runs on nine hits in only three innings pitched. The Cardinals enter play at 4-2, good for first place in the NL Central, and recently routed the Brewers 10-1 on Friday.
RHP Adrian Houser will get the call to combat the Cardinals' offensive lineup, as the righty only lasted 3.2 innings after walking three, giving up four hits, and allowing two earned runs.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Cardinals-Brewers MLB odds:
MLB odds: Cardinals-Brewers Odds
St. Louis Cardinals: +1.5 (-210)
Milwaukee Brewers: -1.5 (+176)
Over: 8 (-118)
Under: 8 (-104)
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Why The Cardinals Could Cover the Spread
Boasting a top-ten offense in all of baseball, pitchers begin to shake in their boots when on the mound and are tasked in stopping this ultra-talented group of hitters. This was on full display yesterday, as St. Louis pounded Brewers pitching to the beat of 1o runs on 14 hits. Thanks to a fast start that saw the Cards score six runs in the two opening frames of the game, St. Louis' chances of winning were never in doubt only roughly 60 minutes into the contest.
Not to mention, 3B Nolan Arenado seems to be living on the planet of Venus, as his contagious hotness at the plate is giving other Cardinals hitters hot streaks with the bat in their hands. By the time yesterday's matchup had concluded, Arenado was 2-3 with three runs batted in, including a two-run shot in the ninth off reliever Brent Suter. In fact, four St. Louis batsmen had multi-hit performances on Friday, as there was nothing that the Brew Crew could've done to slow down the Cardinals and prevent their own three-game losing streak from coming to a sudden halt.
St. Louis was swinging for the trees on Friday night, but they also pitched to near perfection, as starter Miles Mikolas shut down the Brewer bats by only allowing three total hits on the evening and setting down seven batters on strikes. With the combination of lethal hitting and fruitful pitching, the Cardinals look like one of the more complete teams in the sport.
Can the Cardinals' dynamic play continue only a day later? Well, that might be up to Steven Matz, as it will be hard to pitch as poorly as he did six days ago. After six seasons in the Big Apple as a Met and one up north as a Blue Jay, Matz needs to solidify himself as someone that the Cardinals can trust in their rotation moving forward.
Why The Brewers Could Cover the Spread
Milwaukee sits at an even 4-4 record after the Friday night loss and is one game back of the top spot in the division. Experiencing their first winning streak of the season prior to the loss, the defending NL Central champion Brewers will have a target on their backs for most of the 2022 season, and with good reason. Most ball clubs are even more eager to take down the better teams in the league, as Milwaukee will be getting everyone's best play night in and night out.
A major question mark as the season progresses will be the continued decline of former 2018 NL MVP and 2019 MVP runner-up Christian Yelich, who has now struck out 11 times in 27 at-bats. Yelich seems to be stressing himself at the plate too harshly and needs to return to a more relaxed and selective approach in order to be the game-changing player he once was. As a team, the Brewers are also collectively slumping, as third-to-last in runs scored and are only hitting .216.
Houser was absolutely electric against the Cardinals last season, as the right-hander kept St. Louis off-balance by going 3-0 with a minuscule 0.36 ERA in those appearances. Even if Houser wasn't on his A-game in his 2022 debut, this stat alone should ease the worries of the Brewers faithful in that they can get back in the win column and cover the spread in doing so.
Final Cardinals-Brewers Prediction & Pick
Sorry Milwaukee, but even a pitcher with the likes of Houser and his recent authority over the Cards won't be enough to put out the raging fire within St. Louis' lineup. Matz will have a bounce-back game, and the Cardinals cover the +1.5 spread.
Final Cardinals-Brewers Pick: Cardinals +1.5 (-210)
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