The St. Louis Cardinals aim to win their fifth game in a row when they continue their series with the Cleveland Indians tonight. The Cardinals can sweep the three-game series with a victory and are sending righty Jack Flaherty to the mound to face an Indians batting order that has been snakebitten in two games in St. Louis, totaling only 10 hits, all of them singles. The Cardinals are 4-1 SU and ATS in Flaherty’s five home starts this season and opened as slight favorites to complete the sweep.
- The Cardinals are 4-1 SU and ATS when Jack Flaherty starts at home this season.
- The Cardinals are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games.
- The total has gone OVER in five of the Indians’ last seven games.
The Pitching Matchup could be Instrumental
Jack Flaherty may be the new-found ace the Cardinals have been searching for. The rookie hurler has found his groove since the calendar turned to May, winning five of his seven starts and only allowing 11 earned runs in those appearances. St. Louis is a franchise you can never count out in the NL Central race as they sit four games back of the Brewers for the division lead. It should not surprise bettors that the Cards have been successful with Flaherty on the mound, going 5-2 SU and ATS in his last seven starts while outscoring their opponents 33-21 in those games.
In the Indians dugout, Shane “not related to Justin” Bieber will try to stay undefeated in his fourth career start. Bieber shut out the Tigers last week in seven innings of work while striking out nine batters. But what should make bettors pause is the lone road outing he had this season in Minnesota when he allowed four earned runs on eight hits. It’s not a big enough sample size to suggest Bieber can’t perform in away games but it needs to be noted before throwing down wagers on Cleveland’s moneyline.
Cardinals have been Stellar for Runline Bettors
Although St. Louis hasn’t been favored much lately (underdog in seven of last 10 games), it’s been rewarding runline bettors taking its +1.5 runline spread as the Cardinals are 6-1 ATS in their last seven games as a dog. One of the reasons why they’ve been successful has been the play of utility first baseman Matt Carpenter. Carpenter has been on a tear lately and since May 16, he may be having the best six-week stretch of his career with a .349 batting average and a 1.11 OPS, both of which are tops in MLB in the span. The Cardinals are also ranked in the top 10 in ERA in June at 3.69.
OVER Bettors Profiting when Indians take the field
The total opened at 8.5 and the OVER may be the prudent angle to take in this tilt. The Indians and Cardinals both average nearly five runs per game and the OVER has hit in five of the Indians’ last seven games with an average combined score of 9.57 runs per game. It’s also worth noting that both of these teams started their No. 1 pitchers in last night’s matchup and proceeded to put up a combined 13 runs.
To see the matchup page, click here.
