MLB Odds: Cardinals Make Way to Wrigley
Albert Pujols and his pals head to the Windy City for a weekend series with the Cubs. St. Louis holds a slim lead over the Reds in the NL Central entering the series opener Friday afternoon.
Baseball bettors have been waiting for a team to emerge in the National League Central all season. Looks like the St. Louis Cardinals are finally answering the bell.
With wins against the moneyline in eight of their last nine games, the division-leading Cardinals (54-42, -0.91 units) take on the rival Chicago Cubs (43-53 SU, -21.62 units) in a three-game series at Wrigley Field beginning on Friday afternoon.
It’s a good thing St. Louis is on a tear, because it’s gives us something on which to lean when handicapping the MLB odds for this series.
Chicago is the second-worst wager in baseball overall, but it’s by far the worst at home. The Cubs are a pedestrian 24-26 SU at the Friendly Confines this season, and they’ve dropped -13.14 units because of their public status.
The Cards, despite all of their recent success, are only 18th on the MLB moneylist, and it’s on the road where they’ve really hurt backers. St. Louis is the fifth worst away wager this season at 20-26 SU (-10.02 units).
Thing is, as well as the Redbirds are playing, they could be overvalued this weekend. Eight of St. Louis’ nine wins during its current run came at Busch Stadium, and it won’t have that luxury against Chicago.
On top of that, stellar arms Adam Wainwright and Jaime Garcia won’t see their spot in the rotation this weekend. That’s a huge break for the Cubs, who will see Chris Carpenter (11-3, 3.05 ERA) in Sunday night’s series finale (8:05 p.m. ET).
There’s a big dropoff from Wainwright and Garcia to Jeff Suppan (0-5, 6.05 ERA) and Blake Hawksworth (4-5, 4.85 ERA), and that leaves the door open for a few Chicago paydays this weekend.
That said, it’s the Cubs carrying some extra chalk for Friday afternoon’s series opener. Oddsmakers opened Chicago as -160 moneyline favorites, with St. Louis priced as +140 underdogs. The total should be released when sportsbooks have a better idea of the wind conditions at Wrigley Field.
It’s hard to back Suppan when he’s winless, but he’s coming off his best start of the season. Suppan allowed one run over six innings to get a no-decision in the Cards’ 5-4 win against the Dodgers as +140 pups on Sunday.
The Cubbies counter with Randy Wells (4-7, 4.33 ERA) on Friday afternoon. Wells didn’t record a single out while getting rocked for five runs in Chicago’s 7-1 loss to St. Louis (-110) when the teams met on May 28, but like Suppan he’s rolling off a solid outing.
Wells tossed seven scoreless innings in the Cubs’ 4-1 defeat to the Phillies last Saturday as +105 dogs, but he took a no-decision after Chicago wasted his performance.
Hawksworth makes his seventh start of the season on Saturday afternoon (1:05 p.m. ET), as the righthander continues to fill the gap left by Brad Penny (strained back, 15-day DL) and Kyle Lohse (forearm, 60-day DL).
Hawksworth could be headed back to the bullpen regardless of Penny or Lohse’s status. St. Louis was rumored to be in the mix for Houston starter Roy Oswalt as of press time. With Oswalt in the rotation, the Cards would only be adding to their league-leading pitching staff.
Tom Gorzelanny (5-5, 3.12 ERA) matches up with Hawksworth on Saturday. The Cubs have cashed all three of Gorzelanny’s last three starts, during which the lefthander’s put up a 3.06 ERA.
Chicago turns to Ryan Dempster (8-7, 3.70 ERA) for Sunday night’s affair, as the righthander looks to continue his good luck. Dempster has won three in a row for the Cubs despite posting a 4.86 ERA. He’ll need to do better against the Cardinals, who tagged him for six runs over 6 2-3 innings in a 9-1 win as +105 road underdogs on May 30.
Wainwright gets the press in the Cy Young debate, and rightfully so, but you can’t argue with what Carpenter’s done lately. Carpenter has allowed only two runs over his last two starts – a span of 16 innings. The former Cy Young Award winner also has a 2.23 ERA in 13 night starts, during which St. Louis is 11-2 against the moneyline.
The Cards are hitting .288 in their last 10 games, while the Cubs are batting .297 over the same stretch. Take a look at the ‘over’ because of it, as well as the teams’ 7-3 ‘over’ record in their last 10 meetings in Chicago.
Albert Pujols and his pals head to the Windy City for a weekend series with the Cubs. St. Louis holds a slim lead over the Reds in the NL Central entering the series opener Friday afternoon.
Baseball bettors have been waiting for a team to emerge in the National League Central all season. Looks like the St. Louis Cardinals are finally answering the bell.
With wins against the moneyline in eight of their last nine games, the division-leading Cardinals (54-42, -0.91 units) take on the rival Chicago Cubs (43-53 SU, -21.62 units) in a three-game series at Wrigley Field beginning on Friday afternoon.
It’s a good thing St. Louis is on a tear, because it’s gives us something on which to lean when handicapping the MLB odds for this series.
Chicago is the second-worst wager in baseball overall, but it’s by far the worst at home. The Cubs are a pedestrian 24-26 SU at the Friendly Confines this season, and they’ve dropped -13.14 units because of their public status.
The Cards, despite all of their recent success, are only 18th on the MLB moneylist, and it’s on the road where they’ve really hurt backers. St. Louis is the fifth worst away wager this season at 20-26 SU (-10.02 units).
Thing is, as well as the Redbirds are playing, they could be overvalued this weekend. Eight of St. Louis’ nine wins during its current run came at Busch Stadium, and it won’t have that luxury against Chicago.
On top of that, stellar arms Adam Wainwright and Jaime Garcia won’t see their spot in the rotation this weekend. That’s a huge break for the Cubs, who will see Chris Carpenter (11-3, 3.05 ERA) in Sunday night’s series finale (8:05 p.m. ET).
There’s a big dropoff from Wainwright and Garcia to Jeff Suppan (0-5, 6.05 ERA) and Blake Hawksworth (4-5, 4.85 ERA), and that leaves the door open for a few Chicago paydays this weekend.
That said, it’s the Cubs carrying some extra chalk for Friday afternoon’s series opener. Oddsmakers opened Chicago as -160 moneyline favorites, with St. Louis priced as +140 underdogs. The total should be released when sportsbooks have a better idea of the wind conditions at Wrigley Field.
It’s hard to back Suppan when he’s winless, but he’s coming off his best start of the season. Suppan allowed one run over six innings to get a no-decision in the Cards’ 5-4 win against the Dodgers as +140 pups on Sunday.
The Cubbies counter with Randy Wells (4-7, 4.33 ERA) on Friday afternoon. Wells didn’t record a single out while getting rocked for five runs in Chicago’s 7-1 loss to St. Louis (-110) when the teams met on May 28, but like Suppan he’s rolling off a solid outing.
Wells tossed seven scoreless innings in the Cubs’ 4-1 defeat to the Phillies last Saturday as +105 dogs, but he took a no-decision after Chicago wasted his performance.
Hawksworth makes his seventh start of the season on Saturday afternoon (1:05 p.m. ET), as the righthander continues to fill the gap left by Brad Penny (strained back, 15-day DL) and Kyle Lohse (forearm, 60-day DL).
Hawksworth could be headed back to the bullpen regardless of Penny or Lohse’s status. St. Louis was rumored to be in the mix for Houston starter Roy Oswalt as of press time. With Oswalt in the rotation, the Cards would only be adding to their league-leading pitching staff.
Tom Gorzelanny (5-5, 3.12 ERA) matches up with Hawksworth on Saturday. The Cubs have cashed all three of Gorzelanny’s last three starts, during which the lefthander’s put up a 3.06 ERA.
Chicago turns to Ryan Dempster (8-7, 3.70 ERA) for Sunday night’s affair, as the righthander looks to continue his good luck. Dempster has won three in a row for the Cubs despite posting a 4.86 ERA. He’ll need to do better against the Cardinals, who tagged him for six runs over 6 2-3 innings in a 9-1 win as +105 road underdogs on May 30.
Wainwright gets the press in the Cy Young debate, and rightfully so, but you can’t argue with what Carpenter’s done lately. Carpenter has allowed only two runs over his last two starts – a span of 16 innings. The former Cy Young Award winner also has a 2.23 ERA in 13 night starts, during which St. Louis is 11-2 against the moneyline.
The Cards are hitting .288 in their last 10 games, while the Cubs are batting .297 over the same stretch. Take a look at the ‘over’ because of it, as well as the teams’ 7-3 ‘over’ record in their last 10 meetings in Chicago.
