Cardinals strive to even series with Giants
The Cardinals haven’t dropped four straight home games in 11 months. Then again, this season continues to see the perennial contenders reach uncommon levels of despair.
San Francisco aims to extend the Redbirds’ recent misery at Busch Stadium tonight, with a 7:15 p.m. ET first pitch in the Gateway City. Oddsmakers at online sports book Bovada.lv expect the visiting crew to prevail, whereas St. Louis represents a +104 underdog. The over/under run total rests at eight.
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Adam Wainwright gave Mike Matheny seven exceedingly strong innings Friday. Unfortunately, Johnny Cueto fared even better. The Giants’ prized FA addition surrendered one unearned run in their 5-1 triumph, setting the table for Jeff Samardzija (7-3, 2.84 ERA). Bruce Bochy’s No. 3 hurler went 4-1 with a 1.41 ERA through his first five May appearances. Disaster struck, however, early in the week. Samardzija yielded five runs across a campaign-low five frames in a 5-3 defeat at Atlanta.
The Notre Dame product hopes to rebound against a club that holds a .190 batting mark in its last four losses overall. After a terrific start, catcher Yadier Molina’s average suddenly sits at .262. Kolten Wong (.225) and Randal Grichuk (.220) keep struggling in the bottom half of the Cards’ lineup, too.
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Something must break right for Matheny’s troops in the Lou, though, and soon. While San Francisco could well ensure the Cardinals’ longest home slide since June 30-July 3, we’re going beyond the paper here. Michael Wacha (2-6, 4.99) generally relishes facing the Giants. That’s not likely to change in a few hours, so prepare for an about-face from the NL Central heavyweights.
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