Two long-time National League rivals meet up again this week as the St. Louis Cardinals (19-15) head east to face the New York Mets (23-12). The Cardinals sit in second place of the Central Division by 2.5 games while the Mes least the East by 5.5 games.
The opener of the four-game series is set for 7:10 p.m. ET from Citi Field in New York, shown locally in both markets and as the MLB.TV free game of the day.
The Cardinals will start RHP Miles Mikolas (3-1, 1.49) against Mets RHP Trevor Williams (0-2, 5.73). At the end of April, the Mets took two-of-three in St. Louis as the Cardinals avoided a sweep with a 10-5 win in the finale. Last year the Cardinals won all three games they played in New York, and they are 11-6 over the last three seasons against the Mets.
Cardinals Offense Waking Up
The Cardinals won the last two games of their series against the San Francisco Giants this weekend, outscoring the visitors by a combined 19-6. The series win was the first for the Cardinals since April 22-24. They are 9-7 on the road this season and 15-12 against right-handed pitching.
The offense is starting to show life, thanks in part to young call-ups Juan Yepez and Brendan Donovan. Yepez had two more hits on Sunday and is batting .366, while Donovan is at .308. The veterans had big games on Sunday, as well as Paul Goldschmidt, Yadier Molina, and Nolan Arenado all homered, and Albert Pujols was 2-for-3 with a RBI.
Arenado and Goldschmidt are both batting .312, with Tommy Edman at .273. Arenado has eight homers and 29 RBI, while Goldschmidt has driven in 20.
Mikolas ranks third in the NL in ERA, and he has 31 strikeouts in 42 ⅓ innings this season. Last time out, he beat Baltimore with one run allowed over seven innings, and he’s allowed more than one run just twice in seven starts this season. Mikolas allowed four hits over seven shutout innings against the Mets in a no-decision on April 25 as he struck out five.
Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Eduardo Escobar and J.D. Davis are a combined 3-for-22 against Mikolas. Starling Marte is 5-for-35 with two RBI, while Jeff McNeil is 2-for-5. No current Mets player has a home run against the Cardinals starter.
Mets Look to Bounce Back
The Mets hadn’t lost a series all season until dropping two of three against the Seattle Mariners over the weekend, with both losses by one run. They are 19-7 against RHP this season and 10-7 at home. The Mets are 5-5 in their last ten games, their worst stretch since the season began.
Lindor hit his sixth homer of the season on Sunday as the Mets collected nine hits, six of them for extra bases. Brandon Nimmo had a triple and a double while driving in three runs from the leadoff spot. Lindor also drove in two runs in Saturday’s win, while Marte had three hits and scored three runs.
McNeil leads New York with a .308 average while Nimmo is batting .304 and Mark Canha is at .292. Alonso, who struck out with the bases loaded to end Sunday’s game, has 29 RBI to go with his eight home runs. Lindor has 22 RBI, while Marte has 20 to go with three home runs.
Williams lasted just two innings in his only start of the season on April 23 as he allowed four runs on seven hits in a loss at Arizona. He has pitched out of the bullpen twice since then, following the now-injured Tylor Megill, whose place Williams takes in the rotation. On the season, he has nine strikeouts, and two walks in 11 innings pitched.
Williams started against the Cardinals last July, allowing four runs on seven hits over five innings in a no-decision. Arenado is 4-for-9 with two homers against Williams, while Goldschmidt is 7-for-22 with a homer. Molina is 10-for-30 lifetime against the righty, while Harrison Bader is 6-for-14.
Betting Analysis
- St. Louis Cardinals +1.5 (-190). +100 Moneyline
- New York Mets -1.5 (+160) -120 Moneyline
- Run Total: 8.5. Over +100 Under -120
The Cardinals have a big advantage in this game in starting pitching with Mikolas back to form and the Mets using a fill-in starter. The Mets have the better bullpen if they can keep it close early. New York has hit more than 50 points better against RHP this season than LHP, and they scored seven runs despite losing on Sunday.
Betting Pick: Over 8.5 runs (+100)
Keep up with your latest MLB news coverage and betting pick previews at NJ Sportsbook.