Giants, Cards conclude critical set in Bay Area
San Francisco’s bullpen has been a source of consternation throughout 2016. Last night’s blowup, however, proved particularly painful.
Closer Santiago Casilla failed to slam the door on St. Louis late, with Mike Matheny’s gang rallying for a crucial 3-2 victory. The two teams wrap up their four-game series this afternoon. Online sports book Bovada.lv likes the host Giants to rebound, whereas the Cardinals are considered -102 underdogs. The over/under run total sits at eight.
Saturday’s eventful triumph allowed the Redbirds to stay two games behind New York for the second wild-card spot in the National League. The visitors also improved to 44-30 away from Busch Stadium this season. Since the All-Star break, they’re 17-14 on the road.
Alex Reyes brings a surplus of heat regardless of the venue. St. Louis will rely on the rookie righty to shut down Bruce Bochy’s attack, which had a hard time inflicting much damage against Mike Leake roughly 15 hours ago. Reyes has struck out 34 batters in 28 MLB innings.
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Bruce Bochy counters with a first-year player of his own. Albert Suarez has gone 3-3 in 20 outings overall, including 10 starts. Most recently, he limited the Padres to one run in five innings.
Both relief corps find themselves on shaky ground. Matheny even had to use his fireman, Seung Hwan Oh, for two frames in the third contest of the set. Yet we’re extremely bullish on Reyes’ chances of confounding San Francisco in his first trip out West. Take the Cards in a close one.
SUNDAY MLB FREE PICK: CARDINALS +1.5