6th Sept - Cardinals vs Pirates

It’s about this time of year when the St Louis Cardinals will begin to think about what comes next. They are currently the best team in the National League and a first World Series title since 2011 and third in 10 years will surely be firmly on the minds of manager Mike Matheny and his staff. Matheny took over from Tony LA Russa in 2012, during that time his club has lost one World Series (2013 to Red Sox) and two NL championship games (both to the Giants).

John Lackey’s pitching form is certainly one point of optimism and the Cardinals will be hoping that it continues on Sunday night. The veteran has held opponents to two or less runs in 12 of his last 15 starts and he has been even better on home turf at the Busch Stadium,

This isn’t a superstar hitting lineup but Jhonny Peralta and Matt Carpenter have both hit well against Pittsburgh’s starting pitcher on Sunday night, Gerrit Cole. The 24-year old was an early Cy Young Award front runner, but his performances have dipped significantly over the last month or so and he’s struggled at Busch Stadium throughout his career. This isn’t the right night for Cole to get back on track.

Last night was a tough one for the entirety of the Pirates lineup, only Sean Rodriguez had multiple hits and only Andrew McCutcheon made contact out of the whole top five. They need more tonight.

Three Reasons for Betting Tips

1. Cole’s getting hit

Gerrit Cole just doesn’t quite look like the same pitcher and it’s tough to regain that sort of form in a game like this. Cardinals’ hitters make you work hard through the count and even if Cole finds a way to fight through, we like the near even odds for around eight hits. St Louis’ bats will make contact and they will get on base in this game, even if it ends up being a low-scoring encounter.

2. Hot starting pitching

John Lackey has been on-song and on-fire. It doesn’t feel sensible to do anything other than put your money behind him at this point. There’s no such thing as an easy game against Pittsburgh, but it feels like a good night for Lackey to build on that streak of going deep into games and not giving up many runs.

3. Odds reflect Cole’s early season form

The tight Money Line odds in this game are somewhat reflective of the fact that this a powerhouse encounter, but we also think that there’s an element of rating Cole based on his record, rather than based on current form. We like this match-up from the Cardinals perspective and think that it’s a nice set of odds to take.