The St. Louis Cardinals (-180) are on the road to face the San Diego Padres (+150) at Petco Park on Thursday with the home team eyeing a sweep of the three-game series. The early total has been set at 7.5 with the over a -120 favorite. The Padres (83-66) lead the series 2-0 after winning 1-0 on Wednesday, their fifth straight victory overall and second in five games against the Cardinals this season. Blake Snell threw seven scoreless innings- striking out 13 – to get the win, and Josh Hader picked up his 34th save with a scoreless ninth. Austin Nola went 1 for 2 with one RBI in the win. Albert Pujols was 1 for 3 for the Cardinals (87-63).
ON THE MOUND
Jack Flaherty (0-1, 5.09 ERA) is in line to get the start for St. Louis. The righty allowed four runs over five innings in his last start, a 6-5 road win over the Reds on Friday. He yielded six hits while striking out five and walking two in the no-decision. Righty Joe Musgrove (10-7, 3.16 ERA) will toe the rubber for San Diego. It’s his first appearance of the season against the Cardinals. Musgrove made one start against the Cardinals in 2021, throwing five innings in a 5-4 home win on May 14. He gave up five hits and walked four, while striking out five in the win. In his last start on Saturday, Musgrove got the win on the road against the Diamondbacks. He threw six scoreless innings and gave up four hits, striking out eight, in the 2-0 triumph.
AT THE PLATE
Over the last five games, St. Louis has averaged only 1.2 runs a game, down from their season average of 4.8, while performing worse across the board (.150/.244/.183). Against righties like Musgrove this season, the Cards have a .730 OPS. Paul Goldschmidt is the team’s most potent producer against right-handers with a .916 OPS in 421 at-bats. San Diego is averaging 5.2 runs per game in the last five, up slightly from 4.4 for the season. The Padres have a .696 OPS against right-handers in 2022. With a .542 SLG over 299 at-bats, Manny Machado has been their best power hitter against right-handers.
HOME AND AWAY
St. Louis is 36-36 in road games in 2022, scoring 4.7 runs per game while allowing 4.4 runs. San Diego has gone 40-31 at their home park this season, averaging 3.8 runs per game while surrendering 3.7. San Diego is 8-2 in the last 10 games at Petco Park between the teams with an average scoreline of 6.3-3.3.
STANDINGS UPDATE
The Cardinals lead the NL Central by seven games over the Brewers. Their magic number to clinch the division is six. The Padres are second in the NL West, 20 games behind the Dodgers. They currently occupy one of the Wild Card spots, sitting second.
SportsTips’ MLB Pick:
San Diego Padres (-150)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
