The St. Louis Cardinals (63-51, 37-21 home) and the Colorado Rockies (51-66, 18-2s face each other in a three-game National League series beginning Tuesday night after a travel day on Monday. This week’s series will be the final time these two teams face each other this season, with the series currently square at 1-1.
The first pitch of Tuesday night’s contest is at 7:45 p.m. EST inside Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis opens as a heavy favorite for the opener at -210, and the over-under total is 7.5 runs.
What to Know – Colorado Rockies
Colorado looks to break out of a two-game losing streak and get back into the win column to start the week off on the right foot. The Rockies sit at the bottom of the NL West, 3.5 games back of their nearest competitor in the division.
The expected starter for the visitors is left-hander Kyle Freeland (7-8, 4.84 ERA, 1.41 WHIP). Freeland faced the Cardinals his last time out, suffering a loss after surrendering six earned runs over 4.1 innings of work. For the year, the 29-year-old Colorado native has pitched 124.2 innings, allowing 67 earned runs on 137 hits and 39 walks while striking out 90 batters.
CJ Cron continues to power the Rockies offense at the dish, leading the team in home runs (23), runs batted in (80), and runs scored (64). Veteran Charlie Blackmon continues to cement himself as one of the franchise’s best hitters all-time, smacking 16 home runs and driving in 63 runs this season.
The Rockies lead the majors batting .263 as a team and scoring 4.5 runs per game. Colorado’s pitching staff ranks 28th in the league, sporting a 5.00 team earned run average.
What to Know – St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals took two of three from the Brewers over the weekend to build their NL Central advantage. St. Louis holds a 1.5-game lead over Milwaukee in what’s became a two-team race in the division.
St. Louis hands the ball over to Jose Quintana (4-5, 3.37 ERA, 1.24 WHIP) to keep the Cardinals on the winning track. The lefty was acquired by the Cardinals prior to the trade deadline from Pittsburgh. Quintana is 1-0 in two starts with St. Louis, including his last outing holding the Rockies to two earned runs over six innings of work.
Offensively, the sticks of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado have propelled the Cardinals all season. The slugging corner infielders have combined for 53 home runs and 162 RBIs this year. Goldschmidt’s .328 batting average is second amongst players in the majors.
St. Louis averages 4.7 runs per contest thanks to a team batting average of .253, sixth in the MLB. The pitching staff for the Cardinals sits 15th in the majors featuring a 3.89 team ERA.
The Pick is In
St. Louis needs to keep the pressure on the Brewers in the division, and the Cardinals keep that series win over Milwaukee alive with an opening victory over the Rockies. Expect this one to be high-scoring, but the Cardinals pull away in the latter portion of the contest.
The Pick: St. Louis Cardinals ML
