Last Updated on September 1, 2017 8:25 pm by dpatrick
Cardinals vs. Giants Pick
Do the St. Louis Cardinals have the host San Francisco Giants’ number as the three-game series continues Friday night at 10:15PM EST?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Cardinals are a -114 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Giants are -106, while the over-under sits at 8.5.
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St. Louis will turn to Jack Flaherty for his MLB debut, while the Giants will go with Johnny Cueto (6-7, 4.59 ERA). Flaherty is a 21-year-old RHP who is 14-4 in 25 minor league starts this year between Double A and Trple A. He has a 1.04 WHIP with 147 strikeouts in 148 1/3 innings. Cueto will make his first start since July 14. He has a 1.40 WHIP with 103 strikeouts in 115 2/3 innings.
The Cardinals come in with a 67-66 record and is 30-35 on the road, while the Giants are 53-83 and 31-36 at home. The season series is tied 2-2 after St. Louis won 5-3 Thursday night. while the total has gove over six times.
In Thursday’s game, Randall Grichuk led the way by going 2-for-4 with a home run plus two runs and two RBIs. Tommy Pham was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Michael Wacha allowed one earned run on four hits with two strikeouts and two walks over six innings to get the win. Seung-Hwan Oh picked up his 20th save. Brandon Crawford was 2-for-4 with an RBI double to lead the Giants. Buster Posey went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run. Matt Cain took the loss as he allowed two earned runs over five innings.
Flaherty might be making his MLB debut, but he was really good in the minors with a high strikeout rate. A former first round draft pick and a top-five Cardinals prospect, he gets to face one of the weakest offenses in baseball for his debut. Coupled with Cueto having a down year and coming back from injury to make his first start since mid-July, this is a good opportunity to fade him and a bad baseball team.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS -114