Last Updated on August 25, 2016 2:20 pm by Brad Burns
Cardinals, Mets square off in rubber game
Stephen Piscotty has pinballed around the Cardinals’ batting order for the better part of the season. His production, though, remains unshakable.
The second-year right fielder pounded his 19th homer of the campaign on Wednesday, leading St. Louis to an 8-1 rout of the Mets. Mike Matheny’s club matched a season high with 19 hits and pushed its NL-leading dinger total to 178. The Redbirds also remained 1 ½ games ahead of Miami for the National League’s second wild-card spot.
They can pad that lead even further with a victory in tonight’s series finale. Online sports book BetDSI recommends the Cards as 1.5-run favorites, whereas New York represents a +155 underdog. The over/under run total sits at 8.5.
Fading in the race and falling victim to a slew of injuries, Terry Collins’ squad turns to Seth Lugo (0-2, 3.04 ERA) for a lifeline this evening. The righty made his first MLB start last week, twirling 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball vs. the Giants. Lugo allowed seven hits and walked a batter to go along with three strikeouts.
For the host team, Adam Wainwright (9-7, 4.71) hopes to reverse a history of woes against the Mets. The veteran ace is just 3-4 with a 5.17 ERA in 10 career meetings with the franchise. He’s enduring a pretty brutal August, too, having gone 0-2 with a 1.84 WHIP so far this month.
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Perhaps the streaking Piscotty, however, can give the righty all the support he needs. The Stanford product is hitting at a .360 clip over the past five contests. Look for him to victimize Lugo a time or two as well, resulting in rubber-match success for the Cardinals.
THURSDAY MLB FREE PICK: CARDINALS -1.5