It’s the best team in the Majors so far this season against one of the hottest teams in Baseball when the Tigers and Cardinals open a three-game series at Busch Stadium Monday night.
Veteran Sonny Gray gets the start for St. Louis here against young Keider Montero for Detroit.
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Tigers-Cardinals Betting Preview
Detroit just took two of three games at Toronto over the weekend, winning Sunday’s series rubber match 3-2. Just before that, the Tigers swept three games at home from Boston. So Detroit is 5-1 over its last six games.
At 31-16 overall the Tigers – who three seasons ago lost 96 games – own the best record in the Major Leagues.
Meanwhile St. Louis just took two of three games at Kansas City, losing Sunday’s series finale 2-1. Just before that the Cardinals took two of three at Philadelphia and just before that they swept three games at Washington.
Going back a bit further St. Louis is 5-0 over its last five series and 12-2 over its last 14 games.
At 26-21 overall, the Cardinals trail the first-place Cubs by just two games in the NL Central. They’re also only two games behind San Francisco in the battle for the No. 6 spot in the National League playoff standings.
These teams met once last season, in late April, when Detroit took two of three games from St. Louis up at Comerica Park.
Monday’s Pitching Match-Up
Gray is only 2/9 on quality starts this season, running a bit hot-n’-cold as of late. Last Wednesday, Philadelphia got him for seven runs and three home runs in less than four innings, although St. Louis came back to win that game 14-7. But just before that, he held the Pirates scoreless on two hits through seven frames of a 5-0 Cardinals victory.
St. Louis is 7-2 with Gray this season, although 5-4 would probably more accurately describe his overall performance. Also, the overs are 8-1 with Gray.
This will be Gray’s first action against Detroit since 2023, when in two starts with Minnesota he allowed five runs and 10 hits through 10 innings. The Twins lost both those games.
Montero is 1/4 on quality starts this year. Last Tuesday, in relief against Boston, he gave up three runs and five hits through 3 1/3 innings of a game the Tigers eventually won 10-9 in 11. But over his two outings previous to that, he held Colorado and Baltimore to two runs through 12 1/3 innings.
Detroit is 3-1 with Montero as a starter this year, with the totals splitting 2-2.
This will be Montero’s first career action against the Cardinals.
Advantage: St. Louis, but it’s close.
Splits With the Sticks
Detroit is batting .258 against right-handed pitching this season, with a .334 team OBP and a .418 team slugging percentage.
St. Louis is slashing .272/.339/.422 against RH pitching. Numbers like those lead us to rank this line-up among the top three or four in Baseball in this split.
Advantage: St. Louis
The Bullpens
The Cardinals bullpen owns a 3.83 ERA this season, along with a 1.26 WHIP and a 2.13 K/BB ratio.
The Tigers pen owns a 2.92 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP, and a 2.59 K/BB ratio. Numbers like those lead us to rank this unit among the top half-dozen bullpens in Baseball at the moment.
Advantage: Detroit
MLB Betting Trends
Detroit is 14-11 on the road this season and 22-12 against RH starters.
St. Louis is 15-6 at home and 19-14 against RH starters.
Totals Report
The overs are a combined 47-41 in Tigers and Cardinals games this season.
The overs are 11-10 at Busch Stadium this season.
Prop Bets
Detroit OF Carpenter, who’s slugging .540 against RHP this season, is catching +100 to hit over 1.5 total bases.
