Saturday night baseball and we will see the St Louis Cardinals take on the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles. First pitch is scheduled for a 7:15 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally. Current Betting Odds, according to Sportsbook.ag, has the game listed as a Pick..
Current Odds
St Louis -105
Los Angeles -105
Over/ Under: 8 U -115
Analysis: The St. Louis Cardinals continue to perform well in all aspects of the game heading into the middle of their three-game series Saturday against the host Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cardinals own the best record in baseball and seem to be getting stronger, winning 17 of their last 22 games. St. Louis, which beat Los Angeles 7-0 in Friday's series opener, has the lowest ERA in the majors (3.09), the fifth-highest batting average (.267) and third-fewest errors (17). The Cardinals have batted .291 during a 17-5 surge, but they rank near the bottom of the majors with a .221 average off left-handers. Scheduled St. Louis starter John Gast (2-0, 4.76) looks to win for the third time in as many starts in place of the injured Jake Westbrook (elbow). The left-hander has opened with five scoreless innings in each of his first two outings before giving up a total of six runs in the sixth.Gast was drafted in the fifth round by the Texas Rangers a month after undergoing Tommy John surgery following his senior year of high school in 2007. He opted to play for Florida State, where he twice pitched in the College World Series, and was eventually taken by the Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2010 draft.
Despite a $215 million payroll, Los Angeles (19-27) is last in the NL West with a big-name offense that ranks near the bottom of the majors with 3.39 runs per game. Amid rumors that Mattingly's job could be in jeopardy, Kasten gave his manager, who is in the third and final year of his contract, a vote of confidence before a 7-0 loss to the Cardinals (31-16) on Friday. The Dodgers and Cardinals have each experienced injuries to their pitching staffs this season, but Los Angeles hasn’t responded nearly as well. The middle of its lineup has also underachieved as 2011 Triple Crown contender Matt Kemp is still sitting on two home runs. Andre Ethier also continues to look very average at the plate and the Dodgers' best hitter in April - first baseman Adrian Gonzalez - has seen his average dip from .333 at the end of April to .303. Ted Lilly will get a chance to turn things around for the Dodgers when he makes his first appearance since April 29, a day before he went on the 15-day disabled list with a right rib cage strain. He takes the starting spot previously occupied by rookie right-hander Matt Magill, who was sent down to the minors after going winless in four starts with a 5.50 ERA. Lilly was limited to eight games last year after undergoing surgery to his throwing shoulder, which also caused the 37-year-old to miss the first three weeks this season. Lilly has pitched well against St. Louis in his career, however, owning a 7-3 record with a 2.66 ERA in 105 innings.
Pick: Gonna ride the hot Cardinals in this one. They are starting a rookie pitcher, but he does have an edge as an already weak Dodgers has never faced him. John is 2-0 with a 4.76 ERA in 2 starts this year for the Card, while in AAA Memphis he was 3-1 with a 1.16 ERA in 7 starts. He can pitch and should have no trouble keeping an LA offense, that has scored just 3.12 rpg at home, down. In contrast the Cards score 5.16 rpg on the road. I know they have trouble vs lefties, but they did get to Capuano last night and Ted Lilly has struggled in his two starts this year, posting an 0-1 mark, with a 5.62 ERA and a 2.25 WHIP in those two starts. The Cards are hot, while LA just seems to be playing out the string til a new coach is brought in. Look for St Louis to take another one in this series tonight.
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Baseball Betting Tips from Chuck Edel & Johnny Detroit
Chuck Edel is a well respected gambler / handicapper who appears on numerous radio shows and is frequently featured in the Las Vegas Review Journal. He sits down with Johnny Detroit and goes over some of his personal MLB betting tips.