As the World Cup betting marches on, so do the MLB inter-league games. When the MLB season started, the sports betting world saw a familiar site. The Toronto Blue Jays were off to a hot start in April and rocketed to the top of the AL East. Unfortunately for Toronto fans, that was followed by another all too familiar site of the Jays stumbling and crashing to the lower reaches of the AL East.
The St. Louis Cardinals were expected to have a good season in 2010. While the Cardinals do sit atop the NL East, they are being pressured by an unexpectedly efficient Cincinnati Reds team. When the season began, the MLB betting trends definitely did not point to the Reds as the team that would push the Cardinals. The Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers were seen as more formidable opponents, but both of those teams sit at least eight games back of the Cardinals.
The Blue Jays traded away their best pitcher before the season started in Roy Halladay. The Jays own an impressive 38-32 record which would make them contenders in almost any other division in baseball. But in the AL East, 38 wins puts the Jays five games out of first place.
In this game the Jay put pitcher Ricky Romero on the mound. Romero’s record of 6-3 with an ERA of 3.08 have been a pleasant, but much needed, surprise for the Jays. Romero got off to a rocky start this season, but he has settled down nicely and has become one of the cornerstones of the Jays rotation. Romero has never pitched against the Cardinals.
The Cardinals put Chris Carpenter on the mound for this game. Carpenter is 8-1 this season with an ERA of 2.83. The most impressive thing about that is Carpenter is not the ace of the Cardinals rotation. He sits second on the depth chart behind Adam Wainwright. Carpenter will give the Jays all they can handle in this game. The only knock on Carpenter is even though he has the second most innings pitched for the Cardinals this season, he has no complete games. Carpenter has also given up more hits and more home runs than any pitcher on the staff.
As the World Cup finals betting starts to pick up, so do the bats of the Toronto Blue Jays. Don’t let their place in the standings fool you, the Blue Jays have plenty of power at the plate. They have the most home runs in the AL (106) and second in doubles (154). The problems for the Jays come at the plate as well. They lead the AL in strike outs with 551, they have the least amount of stolen bases in the AL and they are also in the bottom half of the AL in hits. So while the Jays are able to hit for power, they cannot hit for average and they have problems scoring runs.
Carpenter will prove to be too much for the Jays in this game. While they can hit the long ball, and Carpenter can hit the long ball, the Jays will have problems generating offense against the Cardinals.
Pick: St. Louis Cardinals 5-1
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