The San Francisco Giants are on the road tonight when they take on the St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball action. The game is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the betting odds for the game have the Cardinals favored in this matchup at home to win.
St. Louis has a league-high 75 wins on the season and they lead the division by five full games over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tonight they host a San Francisco team that is 2.5 games outside of first place in the National League West behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and 3.5 games back of the Chicago Cubs for the second Wild Card spot. The Giants seem to be too veteran and too good of a team to miss the playoffs, but they're going to have to begin to play more consistent the rest of the way.
The Giants have 64 wins on the year but it feels like they're in a tough spot moving forward. Sweeping the Nationals recently at home was a big deal, but 16 straight against the Cardinals, Pirates, Cubs and Dodgers could be a major determining factor for San Francisco the rest of the year. These 16 games, if they were somehow to stumble greatly, will cost them the season. Because of that, there could be added pressure on tonight's starter Chris Heston. He's 11-7 on the year with a 3.38 ERA in 23 starts.
Heston is 6-2 on the season in road starts but has an inflated ERA of 4.45 in 11 starts. Opponents are hitting .236 against Heston in those games. Nobody on St. Louis has faced Heston during his brief young career.
The Cardinals are sending Matt Wacha to the bump. Wacha has filled in nicely this season for a St. Louis team that has gotten great pitching all year. Wacha is 14-4 with a 2.93 ERA this season and he's been rock solid in home starts this season, going 6-2 while allowing opponents to hit only .219 against him in 63 1/3 innings.
Current Giants are hitting .111 against him in nine at bats, only Hunter Pence has a base hit.
This should be a solid contest that is low-scoring, making runs a premium tonight. The Cardinals have been very tough to beat in home games this year, going 44-18. San Francisco is just a .500 (29-29) ballclub on the road, most recently getting swept in a four-game series by the Cubs.
Free Pick: St. Louis
Oakland Raiders: 2015 NFL Free Picks & Betting Odds
Vegas betting expert Steve Fezzik doesn’t expect the bad situation in Oakland to get much better this season. This AFC West team may have some improvements in terms of personnel, but Jack Del Rio is the latest in a carousel of ever-changing mediocre coaches, and Fezzik doesn’t expect he is the guy to turn this team around. He also thinks people are overstating Derek Carr’s abilities at quarterback, as he may do well in the fourth quarter, but his numbers are padded with garbage time performance.
$25 of picks FREE! No Obligation - No Credit Card Required - Becoming a member is Fast and Free!
Stay on top of the latest odds and line moves for MLB Season with our real-time odds from Las Vegas and offshore!