Matheny’s Cards battering ball vs. Padres
When it comes to striking out the opposition, the Cardinals’ Mike Leake has suddenly developed into a world-class flamethrower. Tonight, Carlos Martinez gets his chance to bring the heat.
St. Louis hosts San Diego in the middle match of a three-game set, with an 8:15 p.m. ET first pitch at Busch Stadium. Oddsmakers at online sports book BetDSI endorse the Redbirds to claim their second victory in a row, whereas the Padres enter as +175 underdogs. The over/under run figure sits at eight.
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Mike Matheny’s group exploded for 13 hits in yesterday’s 10-2 triumph, but Leake garnered the majority of the headlines. The veteran righty posted his second straight effort with double-digit punchouts. Moreover, he has issued nary a walk in 19 consecutive innings.
Such a stretch represents something special for one of the game’s most renowned groundball specialists. Martinez, on the other hand, enjoys a reputation for blowing away batters. He, too, fanned 11 in his most recent outing. That July 9 gem at Milwaukee boosted the 24-year-old’s record to 4-1 since May 30.
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On paper, at least, San Diego skipper Andy Green wouldn’t seem to have the same sort of surefire option in Colin Rea (5-3). The Indiana State product took a no-decision his last time out, surrendering four runs in 4 2/3 frames at Arizona. Then again, the Padres own victories in eight of Rea’s past 12 appearances.
Unfortunately, the opener saw the NL West’s fourth-place squad flashing little of the spark that marked its weekend sweep of the Giants. Consider that Martinez leads the bigs with a .189 OBA, too, and you get a sense for how this evening should play out. Lean toward the Redbirds to deliver an authoritative showing.
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