In the first of a three-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals (75-42) and the San Francisco Giants (64-53) at Busch Stadium, Michael Wacha (14-4, 2.93 ERA) and Chris Heston (11-7, 3.38 ERA) take the mound. The game gets underway at 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday, Aug. 17 and will air on CSBy, FSMW and ESPN.
In his most recent outing, Wacha pitched 6.0 innings, allowing two runs, striking out seven and walking three in a 4-2 victory over the Pirates. Matt Carpenter (.271, 69 Rs, 18 HRs, 62 RBIs, 3 SBs) continued his strong season yesterday, going 2 for 4. The Giants were unsuccessful the last time Heston pitched. He had a good outing, pitching 6.1 innings, giving up one run, striking out four and walking four in a 2-0 loss to the Astros. Brandon Belt (.278, 57 Rs, 17 HRs, 57 RBIs, 7 SBs) went 1 for 4 yesterday with one run and one RBI.
St. Louis is a -152 favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at seven runs. The Cardinals perform well as a favorite with a 63-26 record and have an overall money line of +2,348. They are 7-3 as the favorite over their last 10 games. The Cardinals are fifth in the league in WHIP at 1.20.
Moving on to the away team, the Giants come into this game with a win percentage of .547 when playing as the underdog (29-24) and an overall money line of +419. The top road hitting team in the NL are the Giants, who average 9.8 hits in games away from home.
This game will feature Heston (RHP) on the mound against the Cardinals, who have a 36-10 home and 58-27 overall record when they take on a right-handed starter. The right-handed Wacha will take the mound against the Giants, who have a 47-43 record against righty starters this season.
Predictions: SU Winner – StL, O/U – Over
Notes
For the 16th time this season, the Cardinals registered at least two errors in a game.
The Cardinals are coming into this game after allowing one walk during their last outing. The Giants have a 10-15 record when opponents give up that many walks or fewer.
When they are outhit, the Giants are 5-35. The Cardinals have a 19-27 record when opponents outhit them.
Ranking 24th in home runs, St. Louis has hit 97 this season. San Francisco ranks 19th with 103 home runs.
Ranking first in hits, San Francisco has earned 9.32 per game this season. St. Louis ranks fifth with 8.68 hits.
Ranking 16th, St. Louis is in the bottom half of the league for its on-base plus slugging percentage (.713). San Francisco ranks in the top 10 at sixth with an OPS of .744.
When the Giants allow at least one home run, they are 30-37. When the Cardinals allow one or more homers, they have a 31-29 record.
