Jaime Garcia (4-4, 1.77 ERA) and the St. Louis Cardinals (73-41) go up against Tom Koehler (8-9, 3.75 ERA) and the Miami Marlins (46-68) in the first of a three-game series at Busch Stadium. The game gets underway at 8:15 p.m. ET on Friday, Aug. 14 and will air on FSFL and FSMW.
In his most recent outing, Garcia pitched 7.0 innings, giving up zero runs, striking out five and walking four in a 3-0 victory over the Brewers. Matt Carpenter (.269, 68 Rs, 17 HRs, 60 RBIs, 3 SBs) continued his strong season yesterday, going 2 for 4 with two runs. The Marlins were unsuccessful to the Braves 7-2 the last time Koehler pitched. He went 6.0 innings, allowing three runs, striking out three and walking three. Justin Bour (.250, 21 Rs, 10 HRs, 33 RBIs) went 1 for 4 Wednesday with one run.
St. Louis is a considerable -200 favorite at home and the Over/Under (O/U) for this matchup is seven runs. The Cardinals have a winning record of 61-24 when playing as the favorite and an overall money line of +2,492. Over the last 10 games, they have a very good record when playing as the favorite (7-3). They typically aren’t overmatched by pitchers, ranking fifth in the NL with an average of only 7.0 strikeouts per home game. St. Louis’s pitching staff can be considered for best in its league, with an NL-low 2.61 team ERA.
On the other side, the Marlins have a subpar record of 25-44 when they are the underdog and are -2,124 overall with the money line. During the last 10 games, they averaged 4.9 runs per game, above their 3.7 season average. Miami is one of the top hitting teams in the league with 267 extra base hits. Miami is a terror on the base paths, ranking fourth in the MLB with 78 stolen bases. The last 10 games have really brought the worst out of the Miami pitchers. They allowed 6.0 runs per game during that span, which is higher than their season average of 4.1.
The previous three games have all gone St. Louis’s way. This game will feature Koehler (RHP) on the mound against the Cardinals, who have a 35-9 home and 57-26 overall record when they take on a right-handed starter. Taking the hill against the Marlins will be the left-hander Garcia. They sport a 10-14 record against southpaws.
Predictions: SU Winner – StL, O/U – Under
Notes
The Cardinals are coming off of a weak pitching game where they recorded five strikeouts. The Marlins have a record of 15-17 when opponents’ pitchers have that many strikeouts or fewer.
When they are outhit, the Marlins are 9-43. The Cardinals have a 19-26 record when opponents outhit them.
St. Louis and Miami both rank near the bottom of the league in home runs. St. Louis sits at 25th with 91 home runs this season and Miami ranks 28th with 83.
St. Louis and Miami both rank in the top 10 of the league in hits. St. Louis sits at sixth with 8.65 hits per game and Miami ranks eighth with 8.56.
Ranking 27th, Miami is near the bottom of the league for its on-base plus slugging percentage (.682). St. Louis ranks in the bottom half at 16th with an OPS of .711.
When the Marlins allow at least one home run, they are 21-41. When the Cardinals allow one or more homers, they have a 30-29 record.
