Major League baseball on Thursday afternoon and we will see the St Louis Cardinals take on the Minnesota Twins at Target Field in Minnesota. Free Pick to follow. First pitch is scheduled for a 1:10 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally.
Betting Odds
St Louis -132
Minnesota +122
Over/ Under: 8 -110
This is game 4 of a 4 game series between these Interleague foes. The Cards won the first two games at home in this series, but they have been great at home and very average on the road and that showed last night as the Twins won 2-1. The Cards still have the best record in baseball and they also have a 5 game lead over the Pirates in the NL Central. The Twins have been rather inconsistent of late, but still are just 3.5 games behind the Royals in the AL Central.
St Louis ranks 21st in scoring (3.91 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 Twins rank 16th in scoring (4.15 rpg), 19th in hitting (.247) and 27th in homers (48), while on the mound they are 15th in ERA (3.89) and 22nd in WHIP (1.32).
Getting the ball for the Cardinals today will be Jaime Garcia, who is 2-3 with a solid 2.06 ERA in 5 starts this year, while on the road he is 0-2 with a 2.57 ERA. Garcia has never faced the Twins in his career and he is 4-3 with a 4.21 ERA in 10 career interleague starts.
Taking the hill for the Twins today will be Mike Pelfrey, who is 5-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 12 starts this year, while at home he has gone 3-0 with a 1.48 ERA. Mike is 2-0 with a 3.15 ERA in 3 career starts vs the Cardinals, but he hasn't faced them since 2011.
Pick: The first 3 games in this series put up 5,5,and 4 runs and I expect another low scoring game here. Mike Pelfrey has been very good at home this year with a 1.48 ERA and the Cards have really struggled at the plate of late. Minnesota is also struggling at the plate right now as they have scored just 2.45 rpg in their last 11 games and Jaime Garcia has been tough to get runs off of as he has a 2.06 ERA on the year. Garcia has 5 starts this year overall his games have averaged just 4.4 rpg, while Pelfrey's home starts have put up juts 6.2 rpg. I look for another game of 5 or less runs here.
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