Cardinals (62-37) vs Braves (57-45)
St. Louis enters this weekend set in Hotlanta having just swept the Philadelphia Phillies. Over the course of the three games they gave up just 5 runs and and are on a 4 game winning streak that has them a couple of game ahead of Pittsburgh, who is showing no signs of disappearing.
Friday July 26
Turner Field – Atlanta, GA
7:30PM
Probable Starters:
STL: Adam Wainright (R)
ATL: Mike Minor (R)
Moneyline: St. Louis -120, Atlanta +110
O/U: 7.5
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St. Louis
This team is so well balanced. The only area they do not excel is in stealing bases where they team leader is IF Daniel Descalso with just 4. It clearly hasn’t slowed them down at all this season (pun intended)
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Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright is fantastic. Roy Halladay was a fave of mine in his prime and I think Wainwright is the next super efficient star pitcher.
He is in the top 5 in wins, ERA and strikeouts but what you have to really love is that he also leads the National League in innings and complete games. When you are backing a starter you want quality innings and lots of them and Wainwright is second to none this season.
The Cards have won his last three starts too as the team has stabilized lately.
Atlanta
The Atlanta Braves are probably the first place team playing the worst baseball right now but they still own an 8 game lead in the National League East.
They have sputtered recently against the White Sox and Mets so you have to wonder if a visit from the team with the best record in baseball means more losses are coming or whether it is what this slumbering teams needs for a wakeup call. Speaking of waking up 2B Dan Uggla has pushed his average over .200 with back to back 2 hit games. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
He also has 4 homers in his last 8 games, in fact his 21 homers lead the club.
Mike Minor seems to be finally living up to the potential the Braves have seen in him for years. His numbers are really good across the board but what has really stood out is the consistency this season.
Only once has he failed to pitch at least 6 innings (5.2 shutout frame to be precise) and 80% of his starts are of the quality variety by my standards (min 6IP, max 3ER). He is definitely giving the Braves a good shot at winning each time out there which means you have a good shot too.
I am not a big fan of betting against the best team in the league but if you are going to this seems like a good situation to go for it. St. Louis can just beat with you in so many ways and Wainwright especially can dominate a lineup that has few, if any, elite hitters.
The Cardinals certainly won’t win them all but this is a good spot and good value.
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: St. Louis 4 – Atlanta 2
