10th Oct - Cardinals vs Cubs

Game two between the Chicago Cubs and St Louis Cardinals has the “do or die” feel to to, but not just for the Cubs. It’s a crucial moment in the series and for the playoff run prospects of both franchises. If the Cards lose this game, they have to travel to Chicago on Monday, where they’ll go up against the seemingly unbeatable Jake Arrieta.

For the Cubs, they know that they can’t realistically go down 2-0 and expect to win this series. It would be as close to a knockout blow as possible. Game one was a tight, tough game, but they’ll be disappointed that they didn’t get more men on base and only managed two hits through the entire ball game.

Second year man Kyle Hendricks is the man that will be under pressure in this match-up. His first ever postseason game is a pretty important one. It has been a funny season for Hendricks, he’s generally a 5-6 innings man, which puts more pressure on the bullpen, and he does get hit, but he arguably had his best stuff down the stretch for the Cubs. It’s just one more win for Hendricks.

It’s a young Cardinals line-up, but it continues to be an effective one. Tommy Pham and Stephen Piscotty both homered late in the game to take the pressure off of St Louis’ bullpen and throughout the game, it felt like Jon Lester was made to work hard for his outs. It seems like playing in St Louis alleviates the typical youngster difficulties.

Meanwhile, Jaime Garcia is on the mound for the Cardinals tonight. He went 10-6 with a 2.43 ERA on the season. He was 7-2 over his last 12 starts, but he didn’t feature in any of the 19 games against the Cubs.

Three Reasons for Betting Tips

1. Cubs’ hitters hit back

Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro were a combined 0 for 17 in game one. We’ll back them to bounce back in game two, make contact and help the Cubs put some runs on the board. This isn’t a high-scoring line-up, but it is one that is capable of getting runs.

2. Cardinals also continue to score runs

It was impossible not to like how they played in game one and we think Pham, Piscotty and some of the club’s more experienced players, like Matt Carpenter will perform well again in game two. We’re not predicting a high-scoring game necessarily, but we’ll back a few runs to be tallied by each line-up.

3. Not a pitching duel

Garcia has been a very good pitcher for the Cardinals this season, but he’s 0-2 with a 4.23 ERA in six career postseason starts. He faces Hendricks, who was only 8-7 on the season and is making his first playoff appearance. This isn’t another Lackey vs Lester contest, and it’s such an important game, we think runs will be scored.