Tim Cooney (0-0, 11.57 ERA) and Tyson Ross (5-7, 3.57 ERA) take the hill in the first of a four-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals (51-26) and the San Diego Padres (37-43) at Busch Stadium. Action begins at 7:15 p.m. ET on Thursday, Jul. 2 and can be seen on FSN-SD, FSN-MW and MLB Net.
Cooney pitched 2.1 innings in his most recent start, surrendering three runs, striking out three and walking one in a 9-3 defeat to the Phillies. Jhonny Peralta (.301, 34 Rs, 11 HRs, 41 RBIs, 1 SB) had another good game yesterday, going 2 for 4 with one RBI. Ross is 1-1 with a 2.40 ERA against the Cardinals in his career. He is up against a good St. Louis offense that’s batting .263. Yonder Alonso (.310, 22 Rs, 2 HRs, 20 RBIs, 2 SBs) went 1 for 4 yesterday.
St. Louis is a -140 favorite against San Diego and the Over/Under (O/U) for this game is sitting at seven runs. The Cardinals have recorded an overall money line of +2,084 and have shown high-level performance as a favorite this season with a record of 42-15. St. Louis is an impressive 7-2 as the favorite over its last 10 games. The Cardinals are one of the best in the NL in terms of hits at home with an impressive 9.0 per game. St. Louis is one of the best in the NL in terms of walks, earning an average of 3.0 per game. As for the pitchers, opposing offenses have been stifled by the Cardinals, who have a team ERA of only 2.64. The Cardinals are the third-best team in the NL at limiting hits to their opponents, allowing only 8.2 hits per game so far this season. Opponents have consistently been struck out by the Cardinals, who rank fifth in the NL in strikeouts per game with 8.1.
In the other locker room, San Diego is coming in with an overall money line of -591 and a disappointing record of 16-25 as the underdog.
The Cardinals have a great 26-4 record at home (44-15 overall) against right-handed starting pitchers, which is what they’ll be facing when Ross takes the mound. Cooney (LHP) will be on the hill against the Padres, who have a 9-8 record against left-handed starting pitchers.
Predictions: SU Winner – STL, O/U – Over
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Louis’s last 6 games.
St. Louis is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of St. Louis’s last 16 games at home.
St. Louis is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of St. Louis’s last 6 games when playing San Diego.
St. Louis is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing San Diego.
St. Louis is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games when playing at home against San Diego.
The Padres are 5-3 in games that go into extra innings. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are 6-4 in such matchups.
Having scored zero runs in their last game, the Padres are going to have to up their game if they want to win this matchup. The Cardinals have a 7-0 record in games where opponents scored that many runs.
When they outhit their opponents, the Padres are 27-7. The Cardinals have a 35-8 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 20th in runs, St. Louis has earned 311 this season. San Diego ranks 14th with 327 runs.
Ranking 21st, San Diego is near the bottom of the league in walks, notching 201 this season. St. Louis ranks in the top half at 12th with 235.
The Cardinals are 31-11 when they hit at least one home run. The Padres perform similarly when they hit one or more homers with a 24-14 record.
