Media by Associated Press – St. Louis Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan watches his two-run double during the fifth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)
A majority of the St. Louis Cardinals (37-28) and Boston Red Sox (34-30) players joined forces Thursday night to spend an off-night watching the NBA Finals in Boston. Now they go head-to-head with a weekend series for the first time since 2017. The series starts Friday at 7:10 p.m. ET at Fenway Park in Boston, airing locally in both markets.
The Cardinals send veteran RHP Adam Wainwright (5-4, 2.84) to the mound against former teammate, Red Sox RHP Michael Wacha (4-1, 2.33). Their regular-season all-time series is even 8-8, with Boston winning all four games in 2017, two in each city. The Cardinals and Red Sox have also met in the World Series four times, with St. Louis winning in 1946 and 1967 while Boston won in 2004 and 2013.
Goldschmidt On Fire for Cardinals
St. Louis has won five of their last seven games and went into the Thursday off-day with a two-game lead in the NL Central. The Cardinals are 16-15 on the road this season and 30-22 against right-handed starters. They are 5-7 so far against American League teams in 2022.
With the season a third of the way over, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is generating MVP buzz in the National League. He leads the league in batting average (.347), on-base percentage (.430), slugging percentage (.640), and hits (82) while ranking second in RBI (56) and fourth in home runs (16). The May Player of the Month in the NL has 18 hits in 15 games in June with 13 RBI and nine extra-base hits.
The Cardinals also have Tommy Edman batting .285 while Nolan Arenado is hitting .271, and rookie Brendan Donovan is batting .341 in 44 games. Arendao has 11 homers and 41 RBI, while Edman has combined seven homers with a league-best 15 stolen bases.
Wainwright has gone at least five innings in 11 of his 12 starts this season. He and catcher Yadier Molina won’t get to make their 317th start together on Friday as the Cardinals veteran backstop hit the injured list with a knee injury on Friday. Last time out, Wainwright allowed three runs on eight hits over seven innings in a no-decision against Cincinnati as he struck out seven.
Wainwright last faced the Red Sox in 2014 with a win over seven innings in which he struck out seven. He has faced six current Boston players without allowing a home run. Trevor Story is 2-of-14 against Wainwright, while J.D. Martinez is 1-for-6 and Xander Bogaerts is 0-for-3.
Red Sox Offense in Great Form
Boston’s three-game win streak ended on Thursday with a 4-3 afternoon loss to Oakland. They are 11-3 in June overall and 15-15 at Fenway this season. Boston is 22-226 against right-handers and 2-2 against National League teams.
Martinez had three hits in Thursday’s loss, and he’s hit safely in six tight games with three homers in that span. Rafael Devers had five RBI and two homers in the series against Oakland, while Bogaerts had five hits and three RBI in the series. Alex Verdugo went deep on Wednesday, and Boston ranks second in the AL in runs scored at 303.
Devers leads Boston with 16 homers while Story has 42 BIMatinez is batting .351, second in the AL, while Bogaerts is hitting .332. Devers leads the league in total bases and is batting .329 with 23 doubles, tied with Martinez for the league lead.
Wacha struggled against Seattle on Saturday as he allowed four runs on eight hits over 4⅓ innings in a no-decision. He threw a complete-game shutout against the Angels on June 6 with six strikeouts. He’s made four starts at home this season, going 1-1 with a 0.86 ERA.
Wacha has never faced his former team. Arenado is 6-for-12 with three homers against Wacha, while Goldschmidt is 2-for-11. Wacha has faced Albert Pujols in one at-bat, retiring the future Hall of Famer.
Betting Analysis
- St. Louis Cardinals -1.5 (+155) Moneyline -110
- Boston Red Sox +1.5 (-180) Moneyline -110
- Total runs 9.5 Over +100. Under -120
Both starting pitchers are on usual rest and have given their teams strong starts this season. The offenses are built differently but have both produced over the last two weeks, St. Louis with Goldschmidt and their youth and the Red Sox through veterans.
The under has hit in seven of Wainwright’s 12 starts and in six of Wacha’s nine so look for the runs to be at a premium in this series opener.
Betting Pick: Under 9.5 runs (-120)
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