Can Cards bang out another W vs. Angels?
The Cardinals’ offense tends to operate in an all-or-nothing fashion. Last night, it cut a swath through the entirety of Orange County.
St. Louis aims to win its second straight against the Angels this evening, with a 10:05 p.m. ET first pitch out West. Online sports book BetDSI designates Los Angeles as a +129 underdog in the middle game of the series, while Mike Matheny’s club represents a -139 favorite. The over/under run total sits at 7.5.
On Tuesday, Matt Carpenter, Matt Holliday and Randal Grichuk all smacked homers in the Cards’ 8-1 rout. The visitors absolutely feasted on a lefty hurler for once, knocking Hector Santiago out of the mix after four-plus innings. The win also bumped the Redbirds to 8-6 on the road.
In a few hours, the task of keeping the momentum rolling falls to Jaime Garcia. The southpaw will try to hand the Halos their fifth consecutive defeat. Mike Scioscia’s bunch has scored a total of six runs during this stretch and averaged 3.5 in the last 10 contests.
Thankfully for them, Garcia isn’t quite the same hurler away from Busch Stadium. He’s 0-0 with a 5.73 ERA in road assignments this year. In the Gateway City, that mark sits at 2-2 with a 1.98 ERA across 27 ½ frames.
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Still, Los Angeles knows not what it will get from Matt Shoemaker. The righty comes into the affair having twirled six innings of one-run ball last week – for Triple-A Salt Lake. Spotty command dictated his demotion not that long ago, and he only holds a spot with the parent club now on account of ace Garrett Richards’ season-ending Tommy John procedure.
Mike Trout’s swinging the bat with authority, though, and any kind of assistance from other cast mates could result in a long evening for Garcia. Plus, we’re skeptical as to the Cardinals’ ability to produce back-to-back bangers in the offensive department. Give this interleague matchup to the AL West.
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