The Florida Marlins will look to bolster their win total and reward moneyline bettors when the St. Louis Cardinals invade Sun Life Stadium on Saturday.

Chris Carpenter, with a record of 6-8 on the season, gets the ball for the Cardinals, while the Marlins trot Ricky Nolasco to the mound in this one. He is 8-7 so far in 2011.



View St Louis vs Florida Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
Sportsbooks had installed the Marlins as +110 moneyline underdogs in this particular MLB matchup. The total, meanwhile, was set early at 8 before betting started to move the line.

Power Rankings:
This game matches up the No. 10 (Marlins) and the No. 5 (Cardinals) teams in their respective leagues, according to our current MLB Power Rankings.



How They Match Up:
Scoring stats point to some edges in this matchup. The game features Florida's National League No. 8-ranked scoring average of 4 runs per game, against a Cardinals offense rated No. 1 and scoring 4.8 runs per game in the league. The Marlins have averaged 8.4 hits per game to date this season, less than the Cardinals hitters have managed (9.2 per nine innings).

Comparing defensive stats, St. Louis owns the National League's No. 14-rated road mark, allowing 4.7 runs per game on the highway. Florida, on the other hand, rates No. 11 in scoring at home.

St. Louis won its last outing, a 3-2 result against the Marlins on August 5. Bettors who backed the Cardinals at +103 on the moneyline won on the day, and the total score (5) sent UNDER bettors to the payout window. St. Louis got the job done in their last match in a 3-2 victory over Florida on Friday at Sun Life Stadium behind starter Jake Westbrook.




St. Louis Cardinals Trends:
When playing on Saturday are 3-7
Before playing Florida are 5-5
After playing Florida are 7-3
After a win are 5-5

Florida Marlins Trends:
When playing on Saturday are 3-7
Before playing St. Louis are 5-5
After playing St. Louis are 4-6
After a loss are 4-6

A few Cardinals at Marlins trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 8 of St. Louis' last 9 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of St. Louis' last 6 games when playing Florida
The total has gone OVER in 4 of St. Louis' last 5 games on the road
St. Louis is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Florida
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Florida's last 6 games when playing St. Louis
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Florida's last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Florida's last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Florida's last 7 games when playing at home against St. Louis


Next up:
St. Louis at Florida, Sunday, August 7