Sunday’s MLB schedule concludes with an intriguing matchup between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals.
The teams split a four-game series last week and have split the first two games of this series, setting up a rubber match between the teams on Sunday night.
The Cardinals are underdogs at home with a moneyline of +125 compared to San Francisco’s moneyline of -145, while the over/under sits at seven runs.
Even with a win on Saturday, the Cardinals have lost five of their last seven games. That little bit of a funk leaves them just three games over .500 on the season and 2.5 games off the pace in the NL Central. The rest of their schedule this month isn’t exactly easy, so it’s important that they finish off a home series with a win.
The Giants, on the other hand, had won six in a row below, losing on Saturday. San Francisco had been dealing with some injury issues that caused the team to slump in late April and early May. But things are back on track, and the Giants are just half a game out of first place in the NL West.
He Might Be a Giant
The Giants will be sending Carlos Rodon to the mound in Sunday’s game. The southpaw is 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA in his six starts this season, with the Giants winning four of the last five games he’s started. In his 35 innings this year, Rodon has struck out 53 batters and produced a WHIP of 0.91, so he’s been dominant thus far.
On the other hand, the Giants saw their lineup get shut out on Saturday, although they had averaged 8.2 runs per game during their recent six-game winning streak. Brandon Belt and Joc Pederson have been huge for the Giants this year, combining for ten home runs. While Pederson has slumped lately, fellow outfielders Luis Gonzalez and LaMonte Wade have helped to pick up the slack.
It’s All Wright
St. Louis plans to activate Adam Wainwright from the IL on Sunday to make the start in the rubber match. Before his brief stint on the IL, Wainwright had made six starts, going 3-3 with a 3.18 ERA. While he’s had some ups and downs, Wainwright tossed seven scoreless innings against the Royals in his last start before testing positive for COVID.
Of course, whether the Cards can give their veteran starter some run support is another matter. Outside of a 10-run outburst against Baltimore on Wednesday, the Cards have scored just 2.8 runs per game over their last five games.
Nolan Arenado has been the leader of the St. Louis lineup all year, although he’s slumped lately, receiving help from Paul Goldschmidt and young second baseman Brendan Donovan, who are red-hot at the moment.
Giants/Cardinals Betting Prediction
While Saturday’s win was a step in the right direction, the Cardinals are still a team in the midst of a slump and relying on a starter who hasn’t pitched in more than ten days. St. Louis is also just 9-8 at home this year, while the Giants are 9-6 on the road. Behind Rodon, the Giants are a good bet to grab a win on the road.
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