After playing ten innings on Thursday night to open a four-game series, the Arizona Cardinals and St. Louis Cardinals will meet again on Friday night. The Cardinals won 5-4 on Thursday but are road underdogs on Friday with a moneyline of +100, while Arizona is favored with a moneyline of -120. The game also has an over/under of nine runs.
With Thursday’s loss, the Diamondbacks have now lost 11 games in a row. For what it’s worth, four of those losses have come by just one run. However, they are just 3-18 during the month of May, dropping them 15 games under .500.
Meanwhile, Thursday’s win kept the Cardinals half a game ahead of the Cubs for the top spot in the NL Central. The Cards have lost three of their last four series and are 5-7 over their last 12 games. Nevertheless, St. Louis is six games over .500 and holding a slim lead atop the NL Central.
Getting Another Chance
With Miles Mikolas going on the IL, the Cardinals plan to bring Johan Oviedo up from triple-A to start on Friday. The 23-year-old made five starts last season and has made three starts and one relief appearance in 2021. In that time, he’s 0-5 with a 5.58 ERA and lasted just two-plus innings the last time he started against San Diego earlier this month.
The good news is that Oviedo will face a slumping lineup that’s lost 11 straight games, averaging just 2.2 runs per game during that span. Over the last week, Pavin Smith and Josh Rojas have both caught fire to lead Arizona’s lineup. However, the Diamondbacks aren’t getting enough from the rest of their lineup, especially with Christian Walker, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Kole Calhoun on the IL.
Bum Time
The silver lining for the Diamondbacks is that Madison Bumgarner is set to get the start on Friday night. The lefty was able to shake off a dreadful start to the season and pitch brilliantly throughout late April and early May. However, Bumgarner has now lost his last two starts, giving up seven earned runs on ten hits across ten innings over those two starts.
On the other hand, Thursday’s extra-innings game was the first time the Cardinals scored more than four runs in their last seven games. The St. Louis lineup isn’t exactly firing on all cylinders right now except for Yadier Molina and Edmundo Sosa. However, Bumgarner has been hit hard during his career by Paul Goldschmidt, the former Diamondback who is having a down season.
Red Birds Fly West
Only in baseball would a team that’s lost 11 straight games actually be favored in a game. The Diamondbacks are favored because Bumgarner is on the mound, while the Cards are going with a rookie who’s yet to win a game in the big leagues. While that makes sense, it gives the Cardinals a lot of value with a +100 moneyline.
Bumgarner’s recent struggles, his past trouble with Goldschmidt, and Arizona’s lackluster offense are more than enough to make the Cardinals the smart pick in this matchup.
100% up to $3,000 Bonus
Bovada is our most recommended ONLINE CASINO and POKER ROOM for US players with excellent deposit options. Get your 100% signup bonus today.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.