The St. Louis Cardinals hope to clinch the three-game series with the Chicago Cubs after winning Game 1 in extra innings. Here’s a sports betting preview of Saturday’s Game 2.
Two NL Central foes returned to action Friday night, as the St. Louis Cardinals hosted the Chicago Cubs for the first meeting of a three-game series.
Chicago swept St. Louis in their first series of the season, outscoring the Cardinals 23-10 in three games at Wrigley Field.
Unsurprisingly, Cardinals fans met Kris Bryant with boos after Bryant spoke poorly of the city earlier this year.
Bryant led off with a single, but was unable to reach base again.
The Cardinals drew blood in the bottom of the first, as Yu Darvish started the game with control issues. Darvish walked leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter. Carpenter advanced to second on the very next pitch thanks to wild ball getting past Chicago catch Victor Caratini. Carpenter found himself at home after consecutive sacrifice flies from Paul Goldschmidt and Marcell Ozuna.
The Cubs tied it in the top of the second, and the game would remain tied until extra innings. Darvish quickly settled in, striking out six and allowing only three hits and one run through six innings.
The game wouldn’t go but one extra inning, as the bottom of the Cardinals’ lineup quickly loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th. Sending it to the opposite field, Carpenter knocked in the game-winning run and Cardinals backers cashed -135 moneyline tickets.
They play Game 2 tonight at 7:15 ET. The Cardinals are -140 favorites and the Over/Under is 8.5 at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Stat of the Day: The Month of Dingers
Just call May the month of dingers. Major league teams accumulated more home runs this May than in any other month in MLB history. The record was broken when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his sixth home run of the season with just 50 minutes to spare Friday night. With the Summer just warming up, don’t expect bats to cool off anytime soon. Seven hitters are currently on pace to hit nearly 50 home runs.
Prop Shop (Monkey Knife Fight)
The Cardinals only had five hits in Game 1, but I expect the bats to get rolling this evening. The Cubs’ projected starter Jose Quintana allowed a season high six runs in his last outing and Cardinals’ hitter Goldschmidt has particularly solid splits against Quintana. Goldschmidt is 6-for-11 with two home runs off Quintana in his career. Consider stacking Goldschmidt with two other hitters at the top of the Cardinals lineup in Monkey Knife Fight’s Total Base Race. You can choose over 6.5 bases for 2x the payout, over 7.5 for 3x the payout or 9.5 for 5x the payout.
The Breakfast Pick
Right-hander Jack Flaherty will take the mound for St. Louis as the Cardinals look to extend their first winning streak in over a month.
Flaherty has been solid, giving up no more than four hits in each of his last three starts. Most recently, Flaherty struckout seven Atlanta Braves in a six-inning shutout.
The Cardinals are just 3.5 games back from the Cubs for first place in the NL Central. The Milwaukee Brewers are a half-game back from Chicago.
I expect the Cardinals to successfully extend their win streak and inch one game closer to the division lead, but what I particularly like is Over 8.5 total runs. It’s a hot day in St. Louis and wind is expected to be blowing out. Both factors should help hitters capitalize. Breakfast Pick: St. Louis Cardinals -140; Over 8.5 Runs.
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