Jaime Garcia (10-5, 2.36 ERA) takes the hill for the St. Louis Cardinals (100-59) as they square off against Julio Teheran (10-8, 4.16 ERA) and the Atlanta Braves (64-95) in the first of a three-game series at Turner Field. Action begins at 7:35 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 2 and can be seen on FSSO and FSMW.
Teheran pitched 6.0 innings in his most recent start, surrendering two runs, striking out three and walking four in a 6-2 defeat to the Marlins. Garcia went 8.0 innings, surrendering one run and striking out eight in a 5-1 win over the Brewers in his last outing. Matt Carpenter (.271, 101 Rs, 28 HRs, 84 RBIs, 4 SBs) has been successful at the plate for the Cardinals, going 2 for 3 Wednesday with three runs.
St. Louis takes on Atlanta as a -139 favorite. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at seven runs. The Braves have recorded an overall money line of -1,916 and have shown a weak performance as an underdog this season with a record of 46-80. Atlanta is one of the best in the NL in terms of walks at home, earning an average of 3.1 per game.
Over in the other dugout, St. Louis is coming in with an overall money line of +2,634 and an impressive record of 83-39 as the favorite. They played solid baseball as the favorite over their last 10 games with a 5-2 record, and a 7-3 record SU. St. Louis is excellent at drawing walks with 3.1 per game, ranking fourth in the NL. St. Louis’s pitching staff has set the standard for its league, with an NL-low 2.90 ERA. When it comes to preventing batters from getting hits, the Cardinals are fourth in the NL with an average of 8.4 hits allowed per game.
The Cardinals lead the season series, 2-1. The Braves have a bad 11-21 record against left-handed starting pitchers on the year, which is what they’ll be facing when Garcia takes the mound. Teheran (RHP) will be on the hill against the Cardinals, who have a very good 76-41 record against right-handed starting pitchers.
Predictions: SU Winner – StL, O/U – Under
Notes
Atlanta has won 35% (26-48) of its games when leading after 7 innings. However, St. Louis has won 59% (34-24) of its games when taking a late lead.
The Cardinals are coming into this meeting after a high-scoring game where they scored an impressive 11 runs. The Braves have a 0-9 record when opponents score that many runs or more.
When they outhit their opponents, the Braves are 43-20. The Cardinals have a 60-17 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 30th, Atlanta is at the bottom of the league in runs, scoring 561 this season. St. Louis ranks near the bottom at 21st with 647.
Ranking 15th, Atlanta is in the top half of the league in walks, notching 466 this season. St. Louis ranks in the top 10 at seventh with 497.
The Braves are 37-34 in games where they hit one or more home runs. The Cardinals are 66-26 when they hit at least one homer.
