Overview
The St Louis Cardinals head out to AT&T Park in San Francisco for game 3 of the NLCS with the Giants. The Giants won the first game of the series 3-0 while the Cardinals got some late game heroics from Kolten Wong who hit a game winning homerun in the bottom of the 9th inning to take the second game 5-4.
Head to Head Trends
Over is 8-3 in the last 11 meetings in San Francisco.
Cardinals are 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in San Francisco.
San Francisco Giants (-120)
The San Francisco Giants finished 2nd in the National League West with a 88-74 record during the regular season. The Giants spanked the Pirates in their wild card game and then took out the Washington Nationals in four games to reach the NLCS. The Giants are a team that can get it done on both sides of the ball averaging 4.08 runs per game on offense and allowing 3.72 runs per game on defense. At home their offense drops a bit to 3.96 runs per game but their pitching is a lot better allowing just 3.54 runs per game. On the hill for the Giants today is the veteran Tim Hudson who is 9-13 with a 3.48 ERA on the season.
San Francisco Giants Trends
Giants are 9-1 in their last 10 home games vs. a team with a losing road record.
Giants are 6-1 in their last 7 playoff home games.
St Louis Cardinals (+110)
The St Louis Cardinals finished 1st in the National League Central with a 90-72 record during the regular season. The Cardinals have a good pitching staff allowing 3.72 runs per game but they are lacking on offense averaging 3.82 runs per game. On the road their pitching numbers are similar allowing 3.70 runs per game but their offense drops down to just 3.60 runs per game which is why they finished under .500 on the road during the regular season. Starting for the Cardinals today is John Lackey who is 4-3 with a 3.99 ERA since joining the Cardinals back in August.
St Louis Cardinals Trends
Cardinals are 1-4 in Lackeys last 5 road starts.
Cardinals are 4-9 in their last 13 playoff road games.
Conclusion
I’m going with the San Francisco Giants to beat the Cardinals in this one. I think the Giants have the advantage here due to their offense or actually it’s more of a lack of offense from the Cardinals especially on the road where they are averaging just 3.60 runs per game.
Free Pick: San Francisco Giants -120
