Monday night features a National League battle of Central versus West as the St. Louis Cardinals (3-6) take on the Colorado Rockies (4-6). The Rockies will host this one at Coors Field, with first pitch scheduled for 8:40 pm ET.
Despite playing on the road, the Cardinals are the favorites in this one. They are -138 to win, while the Rockies’ moneyline sits at +118. The runline features Colorado +1.5 (-122), and the over/under for total runs is 11.
Cardinals Trying To Find Some Consistency
At 3-6, the Cardinals are struggling to start off the season. They have lost back-to-back series, and they now head out west to take on the Rockies after dropping their game on Sunday 6-1. Mostly, they are looking for some consistency both on the mound and at the plate.
In their loss on Easter to Milwaukee, Jordan Walker drove in their only run and had one of just six hits on the afternoon. Starter Jake Woodford struggled, giving up three runs on six hits in just 4.2 innings.
On the mound, Monday will be lefty Steven Matz. In his lone start of the season, Matz took the loss after giving up four runs on 10 hits in 5.1 innings against the Atlanta Braves. He did strike out seven in that contest, but he needs to be much better in this one.
Offensively, this will be a bit of a homecoming for Nolan Arenado. After playing the first eight years of his career in Colorado, he is in his third with the Cardinals. In 37 at bats this season, Arenado is hitting .351 with a home run and eight runs batted in.
Colorado Hopes To Build Off Of Sunday’s Win
In their last series, the Colorado Rockies split the four games with the lowly Washington Nationals. Still, after winning the finale 7-6, the Rockies hope to build some momentum coming into this three-game set with St. Louis.
In Sunday’s win, catcher Elias Diaz had a monster day, going three for four with a home run, two runs batted in, and two runs scored. Jurickson Profar also hit his first home run of the season for the Rockies.
The offense would love to build off of this offensive explosion on Monday. Currently, C.J. Cron has been their biggest offensive threat, hitting .258/.303/.613 with three home runs and seven runs batted in.
On the mound for the Rockies will be veteran righty German Marquez. In two starts, the 28-year-old Marquez is 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and has nine strikeouts in 11.1 innings of work. He was roughed up a bit in his last start against the Dodgers, allowing four earned runs over 5.1 innings of work.
Take The Rockies On The Runline
Looking at the trends, the Cardinals are 1-5 in their last six, but they are 4-1 overall in their last five against the Rockies stemming back to last year.
As for Colorado, the OVER has hit in five of the last six games both at home and against the Cardinals. At Coors Field, the Rockies have had a bit more luck against St. Louis, winning four of their last five.
This is a tough one to call. On paper, the Cardinals are the superior team, but they certainly haven’t been playing like it. Especially at home, the Rockies can put up runs, and Steven Matz probably doesn’t have the stuff to completely shut them down.
On the flip side, this could be a good opportunity for the Cardinals’ bats to really break out.
Don’t hesitate to take the OVER on total runs (-115), but with neither team playing exceptionally well right now, take Colorado at +1.5 (-128) on the runline.
