Cardinals Awake From Slumber to Pound Pirates and Reds
Jake Westbrook goes today for the Cards against the Reds
The St. Louis Cardinals had the fans a bit worried after dropping seven games in a row after Wednesday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. But the fans in the “Show Me State” are feeling a bit better after the Cards offense showed them that they can still get it done. On Thursday, they hammered the Pirates 13-0 while pounding out 17 hits. Then on Friday, the Red Birds crushed the Cincinnati Reds 13-3 while collecting 14 more hits. Now, that is the way to start off the Dog Days of August if you are a St. Louis fan.
David Freese knocked in four runs while going 1-4 while Allen Craig had a 3-3 night with three RBI and John Jay went 2-5 with three batted in. Shelby Miller got the win to improve to 11-7 while Bronson Arroyo took the loss to fall to 9-9.
The Pirates lost their second straight game to begin August, 4-2 to the Colorado Rockies. Todd Helton got the big hit, a two RBI single in the top of the sixth to make Gerrit Cole the losing pitcher to drop him to 5-5 while getting a win for Jhoulys Chacin to improve his record to 10-5.
The Pirates now have only a half game lead in the N. L. Central over the Cardinals with the Redlegs 5.5 back. In the N. L. Wild Card race, the Reds still hold the second spot, but the Arizona Diamondbacks have pulled to within 3.5 games of the Reds after downing the Boston Red Sox 7-6 on Friday. Cody Ross broke a 6-6 tie with a solo home run in the eighth for Arizona.
Another important Friday game involving a team from the N. L. Central took place at Wrigley Field where the West leaders, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs 6-2. The Dodgers were outhit by the Cubs 14-9 but the Cubs had trouble getting the clutch hits while the Dodgers got plenty of them. Hyun-Jin Rhu improved to 10-3 while Travis Wood dropped to 7-8.
Bovada has odds on the three big games involving N. L. Central teams on Saturday:
Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs– The Dodgers are -105 and the Cubs are +125. Chris Capuano pitches for the Dodgers against Jeff Samardzija for the Cubs. Samardzija has been a hot pitcher lately. We like the Cubs +125.
Colorado Rockies at Pittsburgh Pirates– The Rockies are +1.5 -135 and the Bucs are -1.5 +105 ATS. Moneyline has the Rockies +175 and the Pirates -210. Jorge De La Rosa starts for the Rockies against Francisco Liriano for the Pirates. We like the Pirates -1.5 in this one.
St. Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati Reds– The Cards are +1.5 -165 and the Reds are -1.5 +135 ATS. Moneyline is St. Louis +137 and the Reds -157. Jake Westbrook gets the start for St. Louis against Tony Cingrani for the Reds. Who the heck is Tony Cingrani? We’re taking St. Louis +137.
While we are here, might as well give the odds on the Milwaukee Brewers game too:
Washington Nationals at Milwaukee Brewers– The Nats are -1.5 +120 and the Brewers are +1.5 -150 ATS. Moneyline is Nats -133 and Brewers +113. Dan Haren gets the start for Washington against Donovan Hand for the Brewers. We are going to go with Milwaukee +1.5 in this one.
