Cards hope Reyes rides to rescue vs. Cubs
Yesterday, the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta dominated the Cardinals over the course of seven innings. It would surprise no one if Jason Hammel were to be equally great this afternoon.
The veteran righty aims to put the finishing touches on a remarkable season at Wrigley Field beginning at 1:05 p.m. ET. Online sports book Bovada.lv gives the hosts odds of -135 to prevail, whereas St. Louis represents a +115 underdog. The over/under run total rests at 8.5.
Mike Matheny’s team went down quietly in the series opener, 5-0, as Arrieta struck out 10 and generally confounded hitters. Hammel’s done much the same thing on the North Side throughout the summer. He’s 10-1 with a 1.84 ERA at home. On a staff that also includes Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks, though, the 3-_-year-old currently finds himself out of Joe Maddon’s NLDS rotation.
The Cards, embroiled in a fierce fight for a wild-card spot, can’t afford to think that far ahead. They simply need rookie phenom Alex Reyes to post another dynamic outing shortly. On Aug. 13, he actually made his MLB road debut in the Windy City, twirling three scoreless frames. Reyes recently blanked San Francisco over seven innings.
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There’s a certain fearlessness exhibited by the top prospect that should serve him well in such a pressure-packed environment. Reyes is, of course, more than capable of engaging in a mano-a-mano duel with Hammel from a stuff standpoint. It merely becomes a matter of efficiency. Considering the strides he made in that area his last time out, we’ll opt for the upset here.
SATURDAY MLB FREE PICK: CARDINALS +1.5