A pair of teams with winning records looking to chase down first-place teams meet up in the series finale Sunday night. The St. Louis Cardinals (18-15) and the San Francisco Giants (20-13) have split the first two games of the series after splitting a four-game series last week. Sunday night’s ESPN title from Busch Stadium starts at 7:08 p.m. ET.
The Cardinals will start veteran RHP Adam Wainwright (3-3, 3.18) on the mound against Giants LHP Carlos Rodon (4-1, 1.80). The teams split four games in San Francisco last week, both winning one-run games and both winning blow outs. Sunday’s meeting will be the final game between the teams in the regular season.
Rodon Turning Into An Ace
The Giants are 9-6 on the road this season, and the over is 17-15-1 in their 33 games. They are 15-12 against right-handed pitchers, and their six-game win streak ended on Saturday. The Giants rank fifth in the NL in batting average (.246), fifth in home runs (33), second in scoring (4.93/game), and third in ERA (3.38).
San Francisco had eight hits on Saturday but were held scoreless for just the second time this season. The Giants scored 49 runs in their six-game win streak, winning four of those games by at least six runs. Lamonte Wade Jr. and Brandon Belt both had two hits, but the Giants left ten runners on base.
Joc Pederson leads the Giants with six home runs while Wilmer Flores has 19 RBI. Thairo Estrada leads the team with seven doubles and adds 18 RBI. Luis Gonzalez is batting .339 but has just 60 at-bats on the season, and Wade is batting .353 over the last seven games. Evan Longoria was activated from the IL this week, and he’s 1-for-10 with a double and two RBI in the Cardinals series.
Rodon is rejuvenated in his first year with the Giants. He has 53 strikeouts and just 12 walks in 35 innings this season while posting a 1.80 ERA. He’s gone at least six innings in three straight starts, and Rodon struck out 12 batters in a win over Colorado on Monday.
He has faced the Cardinals three times in his career, all with the White Sox, including a loss last May in which he struck out ten over six innings. Tommy Edman homered in that game while going 1-for-3. Albert Pujols also has a homer against Rodon but is just 1-for-9, while Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Yadier Molina are a combined 2-for-13 against the lefty.
Cardinals Offense Struggling
The Cardinals are just 9-8 at home this season and 3-3 against left-handed pitching. They are 5-5 in their last ten games, and in all five wins, they allowed two runs or less. They have scored three runs or less in 16 games already this season, going 4-12 in those games.
The Cardinals rank seventh in the NL with a .239 batting average and 10th in scoring at 4.3 runs per game. They lead the league in stolen bases (28) but rank 11th in homers with 29. The pitching staff ranks sixth with a 3.56 ERA, and they have two shutouts in their last ten games.
Edman hit his fourth homer of the season on Saturday, second on the team behind Arenado’s seven. The Cardinals’ third baseman leads the team with 26 RBI and a .311 average, while Paul Goldschmidt is batting .298. Young newcomers Juan Yepez (.351) and Brendan Donovan (.320) have helped jump-start the offense, and the latter had a RBI double on Saturday.
Wainwright missed his last start with COVID and hasn’t pitched since beating Kansas City on a one-hit shutout over seven innings on May 4. He’s gone at least five innings in five of six starts this season and has 28 strikeouts in 34 innings.
Wainwright faced the Giants twice last season, going 1-1, and he is 3-1 against them since the start of the 2017 season. Brandon Crawford is 9-for-36 against the right-hander, while Belt is 4-for-22. Wade and Mike Yastrzemski both have homers against Wainwright, the latter going 4-for-9.
Betting Analysis
- San Francisco Giants -1.5 run line (+115). -150 Moneyline
- St. Louis Cardinals +1.5 (-135). +130 Moneyline
- Run Total: 7. Over -110. Under -110.
This game has pitchers duel written all over it the way both starters have gone this season and the way their season series has gone. The Cardinals’ offense has been in hibernation at home, but their defense and starting pitching have kept them in games. Scoring first will be key in this game but look for the runs to be at a premium.
Betting Pick: Under 7.00 runs (-110)
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