For a while in August the St. Louis Cardinals were a reliable straight-up baseball betting proposition. The second half of the month however has seen them put only two wins together in between losing streaks. The Cards hope to string more than a couple of victories in a row and in order for that to happen a win tonight against the San Diego Padres in their series finale is indispensable.
- Date: Thursday, 24th August
- Time: 7:15 PM
- Venue: Busch Stadium, St. Louis
Baseball Betting Odds:
Padres +1½ (-110) 8 (-110) +205
Cardinals -1½ (-110) 8 (-110) -225
San Diego Padres (56-70)
Luis Perdomo (RHP, 6-8, 4.93 ERA, 93 K) allowed the Nationals five runs – three earned – in six innings in his last start (his sixth straight start pitching at least six innings), though he did retire 13 of 14 at one point. The Dominican – who was signed by St. Louis as an international free agent in 2010 – has surrendered four runs or more in six of his last seven starts and is has lost his last two starts. He has posted 12 quality starts this season for second-most on the club and has thrown five innings or more in 19 of his 22 appearances.
Venezuelan infielder Yangervis Solarte has faced the Cardinal’s starter the most out of any San Diego players. In 11 plate appearances, Solarte has three hits – including one homer – for a .273 average. Solarte was a career .308 hitter against the Cardinals (24-for-78) with 15 RBIs entering Wednesday. San Diego entered the series in the throes of a six-game losing streak against St. Louis, but snapped that skid with a 12-4 win on Tuesday. Prior to that, the Cards had also won six consecutive home games against the Padres.
Baseball betting trends: The Friars have lost and failed to cover in four of their last six games.
Saint Louis Cardinals (64-62)
Carlos Martínez (RHP, 10-9, 3.57 ERA, 169 K) tends to start slow – he has a 6.84 ERA and allowed six home runs (of 22 overall) in the first inning of his 25 starts this season – but he gets warmed up the longer he pitches. The Dominican has won his last three straight starts and has given up three runs or fewer and thrown at least six innings in each of those outings. Martinez snapped a six-game streak of surrendering at least a run in the first inning on August 7th, but has allowed runs in the first innings of each of his last two starts since then. Nevertheless, he is tied for fourth in the National League with 17 quality starts this year, as well as being fourth in innings pitched (161 1/3). This will be the sixth time that Martinez faces San Diego in his career, in which he is 1-1 with a 4.63 ERA versus the Padres.
Matt Carpenter sat out Wednesday’s game with a virus. The Cards are not sure whether the first baseman he will be available for Thursday. Jedd Gyorko started at first base with second baseman Kolten Wong batting leadoff in lieu of Carpenter.
Baseball betting trends: St. Louis has seven of their last eight overall games against San Diego, and also seven of their last home games against the Friars.