St. Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee Brewers Betting Preview
NL Central rivals’ co-divisional leaders will square off Wednesday in the third game of a four-game series as the St. Louis Cardinals (39-31) take on the Milwaukee Brewers (39-31). The Brewers will host this one at American Family Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 8:10 pm ET.
After dropping the first game, the Cardinals bounced back with a 6-2 win on Tuesday. Jack Flaherty went three innings, allowing two runs on five hits while walking five. Zach Thompson picked up the win in relief.
Offensively, rookie Nolan Gorman had himself quite a day. He went four for four with two home runs, four runs batted in, and two runs scored. Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado also added two hits apiece.
For Milwaukee, Chi Chi Gonzalez took the loss as he gave up three runs on four hits over four innings of work.
Willy Adames hit his 14th home run of the season, but the Brewers struggled to find any consistency as they managed just four hits in the defeat.
The Cardinals are slight favorites playing on the road Wednesday. They are -115 to win while the Brewers’ moneyline is -105. The runline features Milwaukee +1.5 (-175), and the over/under for total runs is 8.5.
Cardinals Look To Move Above .500 On The Road
While St. Louis has been great at Busch Stadium (21-13), they have played just .500 ball on the road (18-18). On Wednesday, they will look to move above the .500 mark while also securing at least a series split in the third game.
Taking the mound for the redbirds will be veteran righty Adam Wainwright. In 13 games this season, the 40-year-old is 5-5 with a 3.06 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and has 60 strikeouts in 79.1 innings pitched.
With Yadier Molina still on the injured list, it will be interesting to see if Wainwright fares any better in this one. In his last start, also without Molina, he gave up four runs on 6.1 innings in a loss to the Boston Red Sox.
Rookie phenom Nolan Gorman, Tuesday’s hero, has made quite an early impression with the Cardinals. In 93 at bats, he is now hitting .280/.350/.516 with six home runs, 17 runs batted in, and 17 runs scored.
The two best hitters for the Cardinals have been Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. Goldschmidt is hitting .339/.417/.614 with 16 home runs, 58 runs batted in, and 48 runs. Arenado has also been solid, hitting .274/.345/.492 with 13 home runs, 46 runs batted in, and 31 runs scored.
Brewers Look To Pitching To Take Game 3
While Milwaukee’s offense ranks just 15th in scoring (4.36 runs per game), their pitching has ranked in the top ten. In fact, in earned run average, the Brewers rank ninth with a 3.63 ERA. They will look to that pitching to pick up another win on Wednesday.
Taking the mound for the Brewers is southpaw Eric Lauer. In 12 games, he is 6-2 with a 3.57 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and has 72 strikeouts in 68 innings of work.
Lauer has given up 12 runs over his last two starts, but he did pick up the win in his last outing against the Reds despite giving up four runs over 6.1 innings.
Offensively, Willy Adames has been one of Milwaukee’s best hitters. Despite hitting just .211/.284/.486, he leads the team with 14 home runs. He also has 35 runs batted in and 31 runs scored.
Against Wainwright, there are a number of Brewers’ hitters who have had success. Luis Urias (.455 avg, 2 HR), Andrew McCutchen (.314 avg, 2 HR, 11 RBI), Tyron Taylor (.375 avg, 2 HR, 6 RBI), Keston Hiura (.286 avg, 1 HR, 4 RBI), and Victor Caratini (.333 avg, 1 HR, 2 RBI) have all gotten to the righty.
In fact, there are nine players on the Brewers who are hitting .250 or better against Wainwright with a combined nine home runs.
Tough Choice In This One
This is a tough matchup to call, and the odds reflect it. Both Adam Wainwright and Eric Lauer have the ability to shut down an opposing offense, although the Brewers have historically been able to get to Wainwright.
For the Cardinals, they are 2-6 in their last eight road games overall, but they are 7-3 in their last ten games at American Family Field.
On the flip side, the Brewers are 4-1 in their last five games, but they are just 1-7 in their last eight home games.
With this one having the ability to go either way, the best bet may be on the runline. In this case, that means taking Milwaukee +1.5 (-175).
