Tuesday night baseball and we will see the St Louis Cardinals take on the Milwaukee Brewers in game 2 of their 3 game set from Miller Park. The game is scheduled for an 8:0 (ET) pm start time and it will be televised live ON FS Midwest (St. Louis) and FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee). Currently the odds have St Louis favored at -114, while Milwaukee is dogs of +103. The total for the game sits at 9.5 runs.
Free Analysis: St. Louis, which got its first win of the second half Monday to pull within 3½ games of the division lead, is on a run against Milwaukee, having beaten the Brewers five of seven times this season and 11 of the last 14. On Monday, St. Louis overcame a 435-foot homer by first baseman Corey Hart, who has a 10-game hitting streak. Matt Holliday is doing all he can to keep the St. Louis Cardinals in contention in the National League Central. The 32-year-old left fielder is hitting .390 during a 15-game hitting streak after going 2-for-5 with two RBIs to spark St. Louis’ ninth-inning rally Monday. He has 12 RBIs during the streak and is one of the few Cardinals hitting with runners in scoring position. Holliday's surge has helped compensate for Carlos Beltran's 7-for-41 slump. St. Louis tries to steal another game Tuesday with a gem from 1-1 Joe Kelly and a 2.70 ERA stepping up to the bump. The rookie Kelly has allowed two or fewer earned runs in five of his six starts. But batters are hitting .273 against him, and he has a high WHIP of 1.44. Kelly, who does a great job of stranding runners, has gone six innings in each of his last four starts. The Brewers were three outs away from winning Monday's opener, but saw it slip away when Allen Craig's go-ahead RBI single in the top of the ninth inning capped the Cardinals' 3-2 win. Milwaukee closer John Axford has blown six of 22 save chances after Monday’s ninth-inning implosion. He was booed lustily after being yanked. Despite the 3-2 loss, Milwaukee has won eight of its last 13 overall. Randy Wolf, a second-round pick of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1997, was 2-2 on the season after an 8-3 win at San Diego on April 30, during which he threw five innings and allowed three runs on nine hits. He's winless in 11 starts and one relief assignment since, however, though his earned run average has dropped slightly from 6.84 to 5.80. Wolf has pitched six or more innings in eight starts since the last victory and allowed three runs or less five times, but the Brewers have won just three of those games and are 5-12 overall in games in which he's appeared. He's 8-9 lifetime against the Cardinals, with the most recent matchup coming April 8 in Milwaukee - when he was touched for nine hits and three runs in a 9-3 loss.
Free Pick: I like the Cards in this one. St Louis has owned this series of late, winning 5 of 7 this year and 11 of 14 overall. St Louis struggled to score last night til they put up 3 runs in the 9th to steal the game, but they shouldn't have problems scoring tonight as they will be facing Randy Wolf. Randy has been by far the worst pitcher on the brewers staff, as he comes in with a 2-6 record and a 5.80 ERA overall, with the Brewers going just 5-12 in his starts this year. At home he is 1-4 with a 5.10 ERA, while at night he is 2-3 with a 6.64 ERA. He also has faced St Louis 3 times here since last year and he is 1-2 with a 7.88 ERA. Joe Kelly has done a fine job for the Cards so far, going 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA overall, while on the road he is 1-0 with a 375 ERA in 2 starts. He has allowed 3 ER's or less in each of his 6 career starts this year and has the advantage of having not faced the Brewers. The Pirates may be headed for s light slump and the Reds may struggle for a bit with the loss of Votto, so this could just be the time for the Cards to make their move. They have the better offense and much better pitcher on the mound, plus their pen gets the edge as the Brewers have a 5.99 pen ERA at home this year. Too much for the Brew Crew to overcome here as St. Louis takes game 2 of this important series.
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MLB Free Picks: St. Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee Brewers Betting
What baseball bettors need to know about Cardinals at Brewers on Tuesday (7/17/12) - with Pregame.com's Scott Spreitzer and host Marco D'Angelo.