NL Central rivals will square off Friday night as the St. Louis Cardinals (2-4) take on the Milwaukee Brewers (5-1). The Brewers will host this one at American Family Field, with first pitch scheduled for 8:10 pm ET.
The Brewers are favored in this one playing at home. They are -162 to win, while the Cardinals’ moneyline sits at +136. The runline features St. Louis +1.5 (-150), and the over/under for total runs is eight.
Cardinals Trying To Get Out Of Early Funk
While it is just the first full week of the season, the Cardinals certainly had hoped they would have gotten off to a better start than their current 2-4 record. Not only have they been losing games, but there has been some turmoil in the locker room as head coach Oli Marmol recently called out center fielder Tyler O’Neil for his lack of hustle in a game versus Atlanta.
Trying to regroup, the Cardinals will now take on the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that is deemed the Cardinals biggest threat to winning the NL Central. Entering this game, the Brewers are the favorite to win the NL Central at +100, while the Cardinals are right behind them at +110.
Taking the mound for the Cardinals Friday will be righty Jack Flaherty. In his lone start of the season, he picked up the win over the Blue Jays after going five scoreless innings. He didn’t allow a hit in that span, but he did give up a whopping seven walks.
Offensively, Brandon Donovan and Nolan Gorman have gotten out to quick starts, hitting two home runs apiece and accounting for a combined 11 runs batted in.
It will be interesting to see if O’Neill is back in the lineup against Woodruff, given that he has hit three home runs and driven in seven against the righty in 15 at bats.
Brewers Try To Stay Dominant
While the Cardinals have gotten off to a rough start, Milwaukee has opened to a dominant 5-1 start. At American Family Field, they are already 3-0 on the year.
Starting for the Brewers will be co-ace Brandon Woodruff. In his first start of the season, against the Chicago Cubs, he was dominant as he went six innings, allowing one run on three hits and struck out eight. He will try to continue that dominance Friday.
Versus Jack Flaherty, there are a couple players to keep an eye on. Willy Adames, Jesse Winker, and Christian Yelich all have two home runs off the righty, with all three of them hitting .310 or better.
Brian Anderson and Garrett Mitchell have been the biggest surprises thus far offensively. Anderson is 9 for 18 with three home runs and 10 runs batted in thus far. For Mitchell, he is 6 for 20 with three home runs and five runs batted in.
Take The Brewers To Take Game One
Going back to last year, the Cardinals are 2-7 in their last nine games and 2-5 on their last seven road games. For the Brewers, they are 5-1 in their last six home games. It is worth noting that the UNDER has hit in five of the last seven games between these two teams.
While it is hard to ignore the talent that the Cardinals have on paper, things have just not been clicking for them early on. The complete opposite can be said for the Brewers, who have won five straight since losing their season opener.
Between the momentum that the Brewers have and having a dominant pitcher like Brandon Woodruff on the mound, they seem like the clear choice in this one.
Take the Brewers to win (-162), and it wouldn’t be a complete shock to see them cover the -1.5 runline (+125).
