Can Cards’ Carpenter keep punishing Pirates?
As evidenced by yesterday’s 6-4 victory over Pittsburgh, St. Louis has the dramatic thing on lock. That consistency, however, still needs a little work.
The Cardinals will try to take an important early-season series from a chief division rival this afternoon, with a 2:15 p.m. ET first pitch at Busch Stadium. Oddsmakers at online sports book BetDSI are bullish on Mike Matheny’s crew to accomplish just that, installing the Redbirds as 1.5-run favorites. The over/under run total for the finale sits at 7.5.
Roughly 18 hours ago, Matt Carpenter blasted a two-run walk-off homer to hand the Pirates their 14th loss overall. The third baseman also loves facing Clint Hurdle’s hurler du jour, Gerrit Cole. Carpenter is 8 for 25 with three dingers off the righty.
Cole, for his part, continues to labor through the first-month plus of the campaign. Most recently, he surrendered a career-high six runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings of a 7-2 defeat to Chicago. The former All-Star walked four in that affair, too, perhaps giving the largely free-swinging Cards reason to be more patient than usual.
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For the home squad, Michael Wacha takes the hill. The Texas A&M product lost both of his last two appearances despite striking out 17 across 15 frames. He’ll have to be particularly careful when confronting Andrew McCutchen here, for the Buccos’ offensive catalyst carries an 11-for-19 lifetime mark in head-to-head battles.
Matheny’s tendency to sit a fair number of his regulars on Sundays definitely works against Wacha’s chances. It’s just a matter of time until Cole rediscovers his Grade A stuff as well, and why not make it happen vs. a wildly unpredictable lineup?
SUNDAY MLB FREE PICK: PIRATES +1.5
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