National League foes will square off Saturday night as the Los Angeles Dodgers (29-17) take on the St. Louis Cardinals (19-27). The Cardinals will host this one at Busch Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 7:15 pm ET.
The teams have split the first two games of this series after the Cardinals won the opener Thursday 16-8, followed by the Dodgers blanking St. Louis Friday 5-0.
This is basically a pick’em game Saturday. Both teams’ moneylines sit at -108. The runline features St. Louis +1.5 (-178), and the over/under for total runs is nine.
Dodgers Look To Continue Dominance
At 29-17, the Dodgers are off to a fantastic start. Not only do they lead the NL West by 3.5 games over the Diamondbacks, but they are 8-2 in their last 10 and 12-10 on the road this year. They will look to continue this dominance in St. Louis Saturday night.
On the mound for manager Dave Roberts’ club will be veteran Noah Syndergaard. In eight starts this season, the 30-year-old is 1-3 with a 5.94 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and he has 26 strikeouts in 36.1 innings. In his last start, he took a no-decision against the Twins after allowing two earned runs over four innings of work.
Offensively, the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts only had one hit in Friday’s win, but he made it a big one. He finished with a home run, three runs batted in, and two runs on the night. In 167 at bats this season, he is hitting .251/.360/.521 with 10 home runs, 28 runs batted in, and 31 runs scored.
Keep an eye on Freddie Freeman Saturday night. In 10 at bats versus the Cardinals’ Miles Mikolas, he has homered twice and has three runs batted in.
Cardinals Trying To Get Out Of The Cellar
Almost 50 games into the season, not many Cardinals’ fans would have thought their team would be dead last in the NL Central, six games out of first. With an early season full of inconsistent play, though, that is exactly where the Cardinals find themselves. Trying to get out of the division cellar, they will look to add a tally to their win column Saturday.
Miles Mikolas will take the bump for the Cardinals in this one. In nine games, he is 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, and he has 41 strikeouts in 47.2 innings. In his last three starts, he has given up a combined five runs over 16 innings.
Third baseman Nolan Arenado might be one of the hottest hitters in baseball in recent weeks. In fact, in his last seven games, he is hitting .321/.355/.857 with five home runs and 13 runs batted in over 28 at bats.
Arenado has also had some success against Syndergaard as he has hit .385 with a home run in 13 at bats versus the righty.
As a team, the Cardinals rank seventh in scoring, averaging 5.09 runs per game (5.91 at home).
Take The Dodgers To Win On The Road
Despite having won seven of their last ten, it is still really hard to have a lot of confidence in the Cardinals right now. To this point, they are just 9-15 at Busch Stadium, and the pitching continues to be problematic.
The Dodgers’ Noah Syndergaard has had his own issues this season, but it is still just a little easier to trust the Dodgers’ offense to produce in this one.
Expect a high-scoring game so the over nine runs (-115) is an enticing bet. Still, when looking straight up, it is just a lot easier to have confidence in taking the Dodgers (-108) at this point.
