Major league baseball on Friday night and we will see the St Louis Cardinals take on the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizen’s Bank Stadium in Philadelphia. Free Pick to follow. First pitch is scheduled for a 7:05 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally.
Betting Odds
St Louis -170
Philadelphia +160
Over/ Under: 8 U -115
This is game 1 of a 3 game series between these National League foes. The St Louis Cards have been dominant at home this year, but they showed that they are human on the road by getting swept in their brief 2 game stay in Minnesota. The Cards are now 17-16 on the road, compared to 26-7 at home. They also have the best record in baseball overall. The Phillies are at the opposite end as they are one of the worst teams in the league and should be headed for 100 losses this year. They did win yesterday, but still that was their only win in their last 10 games.
St Louis ranks 21st in scoring (3.95 rpg), 7th in hitting (.262) and 25th in homers (49), while on the mound they are 1st in ERA (2.63) and 4th in WHIP (1.19). The Phillies rank 30th in scoring (3.03 rpg), 28th in hitting (.236) and 30th in homers (37), while on the mound they are 28th in ERA (4.35) and 29th in WHIP (1.42).
Getting the ball for the Cardinals tonight will be Tyler Lyons, who is 1-0 with a 5.00 ERA in 4 starts this year, while on the road he has gone 0-0 with a 3.60 ERA in 1 start. Tyler has never faced the Phillies.
Taking the hill for the Phils tonight will be Phillippe Aumont, who has been inserted into this spot to take the place of Cole Hamels, who is out with a hamstring injury. Phillippe will be making his first every career start in this game. He has spent the lat 3 years in the pen and he went 1-5 with a 6.13 ERA in 45 appearances over that stretch.
Pick: I will go with the Under in this game. The Philly offense is the worst in the league, scoring just 3.03 rpg game overall, including just 2 rpg in their last 11 games. They have been shut out in 3 of their last 7 games and I don't expect this offense to do a whole lot tonight vs Lyons, who they have never seen before. The Cardinals offense has been struggling of late as well as the have averaged 2.7 rpg in their last 11 games and have failed to score more than 3 runs in 5 straight games. Very hard to expect more than 5 or 6 runs in this one.
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