After splitting the first two games of this final series before the All-Star break the Cardinals and Giants play a rubber match Sunday afternoon out by McCovey Cove. Who do we like here for our free MLB pick?
MLB Betting Odds
Sunday’s MLB betting odds opened St. Louis at around -110 over San Francisco, with an over/under of 8.5 runs. Early betting action then bumped that line up to -120 and dipped that total to eight.
Cardinals vs. Giants Set-Up
St. Louis took the opener of this series Friday night 9-4, but San Francisco won Saturday’s game 8-4. Both those games, obviously, played over their totals.
Saturday’s loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Cardinals. At 44-43 overall St. Louis trails the first-place Cubs by two games in the NL Central, and it sits just a game and a half back of Washington and Milwaukee in the battle for the second National League wild-card spot.
With Saturday’s victory, the Giants are 5-1 over their last six games. At 40-48 overall San Fran trails the division-leading Dodgers by 18.5 games in the NL West, but it’s only six games out in that NL wild-card race.
This series is the first meeting between these teams this season. Last year the Cardinals took the season series from the Giants five games to two.
Sunday’s Starting Arms
Samardzija is just 4/17 on quality starts this season and has recorded only one for his last five. Monday he limited San Diego to two runs and five hits through eight innings of a 13-2 San Francisco win. But over his four starts previous to that he gave up 17 runs and 28 hits through 21 1/3 innings.
The Giants are 8-9 with Samardzija this season, 2-3 over his last five starts.
In his most recent start against St. Louis, exactly one year ago today, Samardzija allowed three runs and seven hits over five innings of a 3-2 San Francisco loss.
Flaherty is just 5/17 on quality starts this year and only one for his last six. Tuesday he gave up four runs on seven hits and four walks through 4 2/3 innings of a 5-4 Cardinals loss to Seattle. And over his last six starts, he’s allowed 24 runs and 35 hits, along with 11 walks, through 30 1/3 innings.
St. Louis is 7-10 with Flaherty this season, 0-3 over his last three starts.
In his most recent start against the Giants, 364 days ago, Flaherty gave up three runs and five hits in just 2 1/3 innings of a 13-8 Cardinals defeat.
Sunday’s Batting Splits
St. Louis is batting .244/.319/.394 against right-handed pitching this season. The Cardinals have also scored 32 runs over their last six games.
San Francisco is batting just .230/.298/.395 against RH pitching this season, ranking this lineup among the bottom four in the Majors in this split. However, the Giants have also exploded for 52 runs over their last six games.
The Bullpens
The Cardinals bullpen owns a 3.87 ERA this season and a 1.15 WHIP while allowing a .659 OPS. But St. Louis took a hit a couple weeks ago with the loss of closer Jordan Hicks.
The Giants pen owns a 3.93 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP while allowing a .686 OPS.
Both these units rank among the top five bullpens in baseball this season.
Totals Report
- Unders are 43-38 in Cardinals games this season.
- Overs are 46-37 in Giants games this season.
- Overs are 22-18 in games played at Oracle Park this season.
- Overs are 2-0 in Cardinals-Giants games this season.
- Overs are a combined 21-11 with Samardzija and Flaherty this season.
- Get more details: Cardinals at Giants MLB Match-up Stats
