Chicago vs St. Louis MLB Betting Preview
The Cardinals are still in first place in the NL Central even though they are coming off being swept at the hands of the Atlanta Braves.
Venue/ Stadium: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
Time/Date: 7 PM EST Monday, May 14, 2012
MLB Odds From: Bovada
Moneyline: Cubs +150 / Cardinals -170
Over/Under: 7 runs
Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals Preview
While the Cubs are coming off a win they are still in the basement of the NL Central 6 games back of the Cardinals. This season the Cardinals rank 2nd in the Majors in runs scored while the Cubs only rank 27th. MLB lines have the Cardinals as the home favorite with a total of 7 runs.
In their last games the Cardinals lost to the Atlanta Braves 7-4 while the Cubs avoided being swept beating the Milwaukee Brewers 8-2.
This season the Cubs have an O/U record of 15-18 and they have a run-line W/L record of 18-16 and the Cardinals have an O/U record of 18-16 and they have a run-line W/L record of 20-14.
This season the Cardinals are 8-7 at home and the Cubs are 5-10 on the road.
Taking the hill for the Cubs tonight is Ryan Dempster (0-1, 1.02 ERA), who had a great last outing, but got no run support going 7 innings and giving up 1 earned run in getting a no decision against the Braves. Jake Westbrook (4-2, 1.76 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals and in his last outing he was solid going 7 innings and not giving up any earned runs in a win over the Diamondbacks.
Dempster leads the NL in ERA, but he has exactly 0 wins to show for it. He has limited opponents to a .164 average, but he is getting a NL worst average of 2.04 runs of support. On the other side of the coin Westbrook is getting a NL best average of 8.12 runs of support. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
The Cardinals have lost 4 straight at home and the reason is their pitching, which has given up 29 runs in that span.
While the Cubs and Cardinals have split their 6 games they have faced each other this season Chicago has lost 9 of their last 12 games at St. Louis.
Bryan LaHair and Starlin Castro are having great seasons for the Cubs with each hitting over .330, but the Cubs lack a lot of pop. LaHair has 8 HR and the only other guys that have over 3 HR are Ian Stewart and Geovany Soto, who each are hitting under .500.
Dempster will be dealing with a great St. Louis lineup and he really has to be careful facing Carlos Beltran, who leads the NL in HR and Rafael Furcal, who leads the NL in batting average.
In some betting trends for this NL Central match up the Cubs are 4-10 in their last 14 road games, 2-12 in Dempster’s last 14 starts, and they have an Under record of 13-5 in their last 18 games.
The Cardinals are 4-0 in their last 4 vs. a team with a losing record, 5-2 in Westbrook’s last 7 starts, and they have an Over record of 10-2 in their last 12 games.
Jason’s Pick: I think Dempster will get his first win tonight, as he will tame the St. Louis bats. The Cubs will win this game in a low scoring affair, which should be a pitcher’s duel.
