Pirates to sink Cardinals in opener?
After watching their bench corps get besieged by injuries at the end of spring training, the Cardinals are just happy to have the big guns in fine working order for the regular season.
St. Louis begins its National League Central title defense against division rival Pittsburgh, with a 1:05 p.m. ET first pitch this afternoon at PNC Park. Oddsmakers at online sports book Bovada.lv, though, like Clint Hurdle’s club as a 1.5-run favorite in the very first contest on the 2016 schedule.
Key reserves Brayan Pena and Ruben Tejada, not to mention relief pitcher Jordan Walden, were shelved as the Redbirds broke camp. The heart of the order looks exceedingly healthy, with Stephen Piscotty, Matt Holliday and Randal Grichuk set to key today’s efforts vs. Francisco Liriano. Pittsburgh’s lefty receives his team’s initial assignment for the third straight year.
The Cards’ starting hurler also knows this routine by heart. After a torn Achilles limited Wainwright to seven appearances in 2015, the veteran righty had an up-and-down March in Jupiter. But he relishes openers, as evidenced by the body of work. Last April 5, the three-time All-Star ruined Jon Lester’s much-ballyhooed Chicago debut, tossing six scoreless innings. Wainwright went to the Great American Ballpark and outdueled Johnny Cueto two springs ago, too, surrendering no runs while striking out nine over seven innings.
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Don’t expect Matheny to push his ace as hard in difficult conditions today. The weather calls for gusty winds and a temperature in the mid-40s. That’s pretty much the antithesis of what these clubs have enjoyed over the past month.
Can Liriano be impervious to the chill factor? He’s 5-2 with a 2.58 ERA in 12 career regular-season turns against St. Louis. With the visitors still attempting to figure out where Jedd Gyorko and Matt Adams/Brandon Moss best fit in the lineup, it seems wise to bank on more success from the Pirates’ southpaw.
SUNDAY MLB FREE PICK: PIRATES -1.5
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