There does appear to be a chance of rain in St. Louis on Thursday, as the Cardinals and Padres are set to face off at 2:15 PM ET at Busch Stadium. The over/under line is at 8 runs, and the Padres are the slight money line favorite (-112).
Michael King is starting for the Padres, and he is facing off against Sonny Gray. The Padres are 3rd in the NL West with a record of 76-59, while the Cardinals are 3rd in the NL Central at 66-67. BSMW is carrying this game on TV.
Padres Poised for Victory: King Takes the Mound as San Diego Eyes NL West Surge
San Diego is 76-59 overall and trail the Dodgers by four games in the NL West. They are 20-20 in divisional matchups and 39-27 on the road. Today, they are favored and have an overall record of 48-37 as the favorite. They are 28-22 as the underdog and 26-14-4 in series matchups. The Padres have gone 6-4 over their last 10 games and have taken two of three vs. the Cardinals heading into today’s matchup.
Michael King gets the start for the Padres today, and he is 11-7 with a 3.14 ERA this season. He is 8-2 on the road compared to 3.66 at home. The Padres are 70-65 against the run line this season and 43-23 on the road. San Diego’s offense is 11th in runs per game at 4.8 and 5th in runs per game on the road at 5.1. They are hitting .266 as a team, which leads the league, and they have the fewest strikeouts per game. Jurickson Profar is 2nd in on-base percentage for the Padres, and he leads the team in RBIs. Manny Machado leads the team in homers, and Luis Arraez is hitting .433 over his last seven games.
Cardinals Look to Rebound Against Padres with Sonny Gray on the Mound
St. Louis will take on the Padres today with an overall record of 66-67, and they trail the Brewers by 10.5 games in the NL Central. So far, they are 19-23 in divisional matchups. The Cardinals are looking to bounce back in today’s game, as they have dropped two of three so far in this series vs. the Padres. At home, the Cardinals are 35-32 this season compared to a 31-35 mark on the road. As the home underdog this year, the Cardinals have gone 13-8, and they are 34-33 as the underdog overall. St. Louis’ series record is 21-18-4 this year, and they have won two straight series.
Sonny Gray will be looking to bounce back from a rough outing vs. the Twins, as he gets the start for the Cardinals today. In that August 24th start, he took the loss, giving up five earned runs in six innings of work. Gray has actually lost each of his last three starts, giving up a total of 13 earned runs in those outings. Gray’s record for the season is 11-9, and he has an ERA of 4.07. Out of his 24 starts, Gray has turned in 10 quality starts and is averaging 11.12 strikeouts per nine innings. For the year, he has allowed 20 homers. The Cardinals have a run line record of 65-68 this season, including 33-34 at home. They have a run line record of 32-34 on the road. They have a run line record of 21-45 as the favorite and 44-23 as the underdog.
Back the Padres: Money Line Bet at -112 with Predicted 5-4 Victory
We are going to be taking the Padres on the money line at -112. With the money line payout being close to even, we feel this is the best way to play this one. Our predicted final score is 5-4 in favor of the Padres.
Looking at the starting pitchers, Michael King is projected to finish with five strikeouts compared to Sonny Gray with five. However, Gray is projected to go one inning less than King, and we also have King finishing with more fantasy points.
