Diamondbacks vs. Cardinals Prediction
The Arizona Diamondbacks have struggled in recent years to beat the St. Louis Cardinals but the team is hot and they have their ace on the mound today. Will they go 2-0 against the Cards on this recent trip to the Lou?
Game Snapshot
(953) Arizona Diamondbacks at (954) St. Louis Cardinals
Saturday, April 7, 2018
TV: FSAZ (ARI); FSMW (STL), 2:15 p.m. ET
Likely Pitching Matchup: Zack Greinke vs. Michael Wacha
CURRENT ODDS
According to oddsmakers from online sports book YouWager, the Diamondbacks are -125 moneyline favorites to beat the Cardinals, who have +100 money line odds to pull off the upset today at home. The total, meanwhile, sits at 7.5 runs.
LINE MOVEMENT
The Diamondbacks opened as -115 money line favorites but their odds have climbed to -125. For the Cardinals, their line went from -105 to +100. As for the total, it hasn’t moved after hitting the board at 7.5
PUBLIC BETTING INFORMATION
As of this writing, 70% of the betting tickets wagered at online sportsbooks are on the Diamondbacks to beat the Cardinals on the money line. Meanwhile, 72% of the betting tickets are on the over.
OUR PREDICTION
There are a couple of reasons why I like the Diamondbacks this afternoon. For starters, Greinke is coming off a dominant start in which he struck out nine Rockies. The Cardinals offense appears to be feast or famine in the early going. They harassed a couple of pitchers in Milwaukee with low strikeout rates but they whiffed a whopping 13 times the other night against Robbie Ray. Greinke doesn’t have Ray’s elite strikeout rate but as we know, he can rack up Ks when he’s on. The D-Backs are 20-9 in Greinke’s last 29 starts, are 23-6 in his last 29 outings versus a team with a losing record, and are 6-2 in his last eight starts versus NL Central opponents.
On the other side is Wacha, who tends to fare well in the early going but struggles mightily the third time through an order. Even if Mike Matheny monitors Wacha closely, I still believe the Diamondbacks will get to him in time to do some damage. Plus, this Cardinal bullpen has been shaky outside of Jordan Hicks so even if Wacha does manage to get through the first few innings unscathed, Arizona should blast that STL pen.
SATURDAY MLB PREDICTION: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS -125