Overview
The St Louis Cardinals head out to the west coast for a three game series with the San Diego Padres. This will actually be the first meeting of the season for the Padres and Cardinals but last season St Louis won 4 of the 6 meetings. This has been a long term trend with the Cardinals beating the Padres as the Cardinals have won 74 of the last 106 meetings versus the Padres.
Head to Head Trends
Cardinals are 74-32 in the last 106 meetings.
Under is 15-7-2 in the last 24 meetings in San Diego.
San Diego Padres (-114)
The San Diego Padres are 3rd in the National League West 12.5 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Most people would probably be surprised that the Padres pitching staff has the lowest runs allowed in the National League but they do allowing just 3.47 runs per game. Its too bad for the Padres that they also have the worst offense in all of baseball this season and probably one of the worst offenses of the last decade averaging just 3.08 runs per game. Starting for the Padres is Tyson Ross who is 9-10 with a 2.65 ERA on the season.
San Diego Padres Trends
Padres are 1-5 in Ross’ last 6 starts vs. a team with a winning record.
Padres are 1-5 in their last 6 vs. a team with a winning record.
St Louis Cardinals (+104)
The St Louis Cardinals are 2nd in the National League Central 1.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals are 8 games over .500 on the season with 56 wins and 48 losses. The Cardinals are the 2nd lowest scoring team in baseball averaging 3.70 runs per game so it’s a good thing they have one of the better pitching staffs in the National League allowing just 3.60 runs per game. On the mound for the Cardinals is Lance Lynn who is having another very solid season. Lynn is 11-7 with a 3.05 ERA in his 21 starts this season.
St Louis Cardinals Trends
Cardinals are 6-1 in Lynns last 7 starts with 5 days of rest.
Cardinals are 6-2 in their last 8 road games.
Conclusion
I’m taking the Cardinals in this one today mainly because the odds are right. The Cardinals are the better team overall but their road record is about the same as San Diego’s home record and the pitching matchup slightly favors the Padres but the Cardinals have the advantage when it comes to offense. So with all this I would probably give a slight edge to the Cardinals and seeing we’re getting them as a +104 underdog there’s a bit of value there.
Free Pick: St Louis Cardinals +104
