After splitting the first two games of this three-game series at Busch Stadium, the Braves and Cardinals play a rubber match Sunday night. The venerable Adam Wainwright takes the pill for St. Louis here against newcomer Jake Odorizzi for Atlanta.
Which way are we going here for our free Braves/Cards pick?
MLB Betting Odds
Sunday’s baseball betting lines opened St. Louis and Wainwright at around -120 over Atlanta and Odorizzi, with an over/under of 8.5 runs. Early betting action then bumped the Cardinals up to -126.
Braves-Cardinals MLB Betting Preview
Atlanta took the opener of this series Friday night 11-4, but St. Louis rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth to take Saturday’s game 6-5. The Braves won Friday as -165 favorites on the dime line while the Cardinals won Saturday at -105.
Also, both games played over on the totals.
With Saturday’s victory, St. Louis is 3-3 over its last six games. At 73-54 overall, the Cardinals now lead the NL Central by six games over second-place Milwaukee.
With Saturday’s loss, Atlanta is still 7-2 over its last nine games. At 79-49 overall, the Braves trail the first-place Mets by three games in the NL East but also lead the NL wild-card race by 6.5 games over second-place Philadelphia.
Atlanta leads the season series with St. Louis four games to two.
Sunday’s Pitching Match-Up
Wainwright is 14/25 on quality starts this season, working on a run of three in a row. Tuesday, he held the Cubs to two runs and five hits through six innings, although St. Louis lost that game 2-0.
And over his last three starts, he’s allowed just three runs and 11 hits through 22 innings.
The Cardinals are 14-11 with Wainwright this season, and that’s probably a game or two worse than they should be, based on his performances.
In his most recent start against Atlanta, back in June of last season, Wainwright allowed just one run and three hits through seven innings, with 11 strikeouts, in a 9-1 St. Louis win.
Odorizzi is 5/17 on quality starts this year, 1/4 since joining the Braves in a trade with Houston back near the deadline. Monday, he held Pittsburgh to one run and four hits through six innings of a 2-1 Atlanta victory. But over his three starts previous to that, he gave up ten runs – nine earned – and 22 hits through 13 2/3 innings.
The Astros played 7-6 with Odorizzi this season, and the Braves are 2-2 with him so far.
This will be Odorizzi’s first start against the Cardinals since 2018, and that’s already a long time ago.
Splits With the Sticks
Atlanta is batting .248 against right-handed pitching this season, with a .309 team OBP and a .441 team slugging percentage.
St. Louis is slashing .257/.328/.419 against right-handed pitching.
The Bullpens
The Cardinals bullpen owns a 3.80 ERA this season, along with a 1.23 WHIP.
The Braves pen owns a 3.26 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP.
- Get more details: Atlanta at St. Louis 8/28/22 Betting Stats
MLB Betting Trends
Atlanta is 37-25 on the road this season and 50-36 against right-handed starters.
St. Louis is 41-22 at home and 53-45 against right-handed starters.
Totals Report
- The Over is 65-55 in Braves games this season.
- The Under is 62-61 in Cardinals games.
- The Over is 33-28 at Busch Stadium this season.
