It's a battle in the National League on Wednesday night when the St. Louis Cardinals take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. The game is scheduled for a 9:40 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on MLB.tv. Currently the odds for the game have the Diamondbacks as a slight favorite.
Tonight is the third game of the opening series between these two clubs, and it happens to be the rubber match of the series as well. Arizona opened the season with a 6-2 win over the Cardinals in the opening game of the season, but St. Louis was able to get a 6-1 win behind a solid pitching performance, led by Jaime Garcia. The Cards pounded out 10 wins in that game as well.
Lance Lynn will get the start for the Cardinals in this one. He won 18 games last season and might be one of the better starters in the National League. He finished fourth in the league last season with those 18 wins and finished the season with a 3.78 ERA. Current Arizona hitters have a combined .222 average in 27 plate appearances against Lynn.
On the other side, getting the ball will be Brandon McCarthy, who is making a remarkable comeback after getting drilled in the head by a line drive last season while he was pitching for the Oakland As. McCarthy finished the season with an 8-6 record and 3.24 ERA in 18 starts. He's never faced the Cardinals because of his time in the American League since he broke through to the Majors.
Matt Holliday is 0-for-4 against McCarthy in his career and other than Ty Wigginton is the only player on St. Louis to have faced the right hander.
The odds for the game have the Diamondbacks at -112 (Risk $112 to profit $100) while the odds on the Cardinals is set at -108 for this game.
Free Pick: We like the Cardinals in this one, even though they are playing on the road. They are considered the underdog based on the odds, but in the end we like Lynn on the mound much better than McCarthy. Look for the Cardinals to be swinging early in counts and they get the win here tonight.
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