The Texas Rangers will travel to St. Louis for Wednesday night to take on the Cardinals in the first game of the 2011 World Series.
The Cardinals will have home-field advantage in the World Series thanks to their league's win in the All-Star Game this past summer. Chris Carpenter is expected to start for St. Louis in the opener with CJ Wilson firing for the favored Rangers.
[ See tons of fun World Series props, exact series odds and tons of other baseball lines ]
Texas remains the early -150 series favorite and Albert Pujols checks in with the best World Series MVP odds.
View Texas vs St Louis Odds and Stats
Betting Line:
Sportsbooks had installed the Cardinals as -126 moneyline favorites in this particular MLB matchup. The total, meanwhile, was set early at 7.5 before betting started to move the line.
Power Rankings:
The Cardinals sit at No. 5 in the National League in the current MLB power poll here at Odds Shark, while the Rangers sit at an American League No. 1 on the same chart.
How They Match Up:
At the plate, St. Louis owns the No. 1 ranking for hits in the National League at 9.3 per game. By contrast, the Rangers are rated No. 2 in the same category at 9.9 per game.
Pitching and defensive stats are important baseball handicapping factors and St. Louis has the National League's No. 9-ranked defense. In the other dugout, the Rangers own the American League's No. 5 mark in runs allowed.
The Cardinals were a 12-6 Sportsbook in their most recent outing on the road against the Brewers. That made Sportsbooks of bettors who got St. Louis at +114 on the moneyline, while the total score (18) was good news for OVER bettors. The Cardinals grabbed a win last time out, defeating Shaun Marcum and the Brewers 12-6 on Sunday at Miller Park.
Texas Rangers Trends:
When playing on Wednesday are 5-5
Before playing St. Louis are 2-1
After playing Detroit are 6-4
After a win are 7-3
St. Louis Cardinals Trends:
When playing on Wednesday are 7-3
Before playing Texas are 1-2
After playing Milwaukee are 8-2
After a win are 5-5
A few Rangers at Cardinals trends to consider:
Texas is 13-3 SU in its last 16 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Texas' last 5 games
Texas is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Texas' last 6 games on the road
St. Louis is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
St. Louis is 12-4 SU in its last 16 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 10 of St. Louis' last 14 games
Next up:
Texas at St. Louis, Thursday, October 20
