Two of MLB’s most historic franchises will square off Sunday night in an intraleague battle as the St. Louis Cardinals (15-25) take on the Boston Red Sox (22-18). The Red Sox will host this one at Fenway Park, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm ET.
The Cardinals are the slight favorite despite playing on the road. They are -124 to win, while Boston’s moneyline sits at +106. The runline features the Red Sox +1.5 (-150), and the over/under for total runs is 10 (-110).
St. Louis Looks To Keep Momentum
At 15-25, the St. Louis Cardinals have gotten off to a miserable start. Despite their rough first 40 games, they have won five of their last six and have some momentum. They will look to win Sunday on the road, where they are 9-12 this season.
After taking the first two games of the series, the Cardinals will look to finish the sweep against the Red Sox. To try to get this done, righty Miles Mikolas will take the bump in the finale. In eight games, he is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, and he has 41 strikeouts in 41.2 innings of work.
Offensively, Nolan Gorman has been one of the most potent hitters for the Cardinals. In 112 at bats, he is hitting .268/.357/.563 with a team-high nine home runs and 27 runs batted in.
In the last seven games, Paul Goldschmidt has also caught fire. In the last six games, he is hitting .346/.370/.692 with three home runs and four runs batted in.
As a team, the Cardinals rank 11th in scoring, averaging 4.54 runs per game (four per game on the road).
Red Sox Look To Keep Head Above Water In Loaded AL East
Outside of the AL East, the Boston Red Sox have the second-best record in the American League at 22-18. Unfortunately, that solid record still has them dead last in a brutally tough division. Trying to stay competitive in the division, Boston will look to salvage the last game of the series.
Veteran Corey Kluber will take the ball in this one for Boston. He is 2-4 in seven games with a 6.29 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, and he has 28 strikeouts in 34.1 innings. He picked up the win in his last start against the Phillies, giving up three earned runs in five innings of work.
The Red Sox have the third-best scoring offense in baseball, averaging 5.69 runs per game. They are led by Rafael Devers, who is hitting .248/.299/.529 with a team-leading 11 home runs and 36 runs batted in.
Masataka Yoshida has also had a nice start to the season in his rookie campaign. In 127 at bats, he is hitting .307/.390/.504 with six home runs, 24 runs batted in, and 23 runs scored.
Take The Red Sox On The Runline
St. Louis comes in this one 5-1 in their last six games overall and 4-1 in their last five road games. Stemming back to previous seasons, they are 5-10 in their last 15 games against Boston.
For the Red Sox, they are 1-4 in their last five games. They are 2-4 in their last six games against the National League and 2-7 in their last nine against the NL Central.
Even though the Cardinals have some momentum, they certainly have not been dominating teams. In fact, in their last four victories, all four have come by two runs or less.
Especially with Miles Mikolas on the mound, who has been shaky at best this season, the Red Sox should be able to keep this one close. Even if they don’t win, there is a lot of value in taking Boston +1.5 (-150) on the runline.
