San Francisco Giants (29-24) vs St. Louis Cardinals (32-23)
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Tuesday May 31 – 7:05PM (ESPN)
Pitching Probables: Ryan Vogelsong vs Chris Carpenter
Spread: St. Louis Cardinals -1.5
Money Line: Cardinals -160 / Giants +150
Over/Under: 7
The San Francisco Giants are still mourning the loss of catcher Buster Posey but they took the series opener against the Cardinals yesterday. Tonight they have offer the year’s biggest mound surprise in the majors in retread Ryan Vogelsong. In his last 4 starts Vogelsong has given up just 1 earned run, outpitching more established rotation mates Matt Cain and “the Freak” Tim Lincecum. He has never beaten St. Louis in his career but to give you an idea of how “out of left field” his performance has been he hasn’t faced off against the Cards since 2004 when he was pitching poorly for a brutal Pittsburgh Pirates team. St. Louis is one of the best hitting teams in the majors (1st in average) so it will be interesting to see if he can continue his dominance. I have to admit than I am skeptical.
The St Louis Cardinals have to be laughing about their fortunes this season. Adam Wainright is out for the season; Albert Pujols has been awful (for him); and Chris Carpenter has been unexpectedly unreliable as well. Yet they are in first place at the moment with a couple of games to spare. It is hard to figure out why Carpenter has been so bad this season and I have to admit I have been one of his victims as I keep assuming he will rebound. The Cardinals are only 2-9 when he takes the hill making them 30-14 when everyone else starts. This game seems perfect for a breakout as he is at home and facing a weak Giants lineup he has had success against in the past. If he can’t return to his expected level in this one than I think we might need to be concerned about health of worse “loss of stuff” concerns.
The odds makers have the St. Louis Cardinals as a -1.5 point favorite with an run total of 7.
Check out the latest MLB Baseball Odds here.
Prediction: While I am hesitant to back Carpenter again I can’t see myself backing Vogelsong either. This might be a pass but if forced I would definitely lean to St. Louis. Carpenter can’t be that bad can he?
Score Prediction: St. Louis – 6, San Francisco – 3
Need more help making your picks winners? Check out our top handicappers.
San Francisco Giants Betting Trends:
- San Francisco is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games
- San Francisco is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road
- The total has gone UNDER in 8 of San Francisco’s last 12 games when playing St. Louis
- The total has gone OVER in 6 of San Francisco’s last 9 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
St. Louis Cardinals Betting Trends:
- St. Louis is 10-4 SU in its last 14 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 10 of St. Louis’s last 14 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 7 of St. Louis’s last 8 games at home
- St. Louis is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
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