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St. Louis Cardinals Host Hudson, Atlanta Braves
Two teams that are trying to make it to the postseason in the National League will duke it out on Sunday at Busch Stadium, as the St. Louis Cardinals face off with the Atlanta Braves.
MLB betting festivities get started at 2:10 p.m. (ET) in the Gateway to the West, and there will be live television coverage on FOX Sports Midwest and FOX Sports South.
It wasn't that long ago that the Cards probably thought they were out of the postseason, but with a little over two weeks to play, perhaps they aren't out of it quite yet. St. Louis was six games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the loss column in the NL Central entering Saturday, and the same distance back in the loss column of the Braves for the NL Wild Card.
Meanwhile, Atlanta's once very, very comfortable lead in the NL Wild Card has dwindled just a bit; getting swept in this series would be devastating and would make things a lot less comfortable down the stretch.
The Braves' Tim Hudson looks like he could be running out of gas. In his last three starts, he has thrown 18 1/3-innings and allowed nine runs on 22 hits.
The good news is that his splits are still fantastic for the season. Hudson is 14-9 with a 3.14 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Batters are only hitting .231 against him.
Hudson hasn't pitched well against St. Louis is his career, allowing 35 runs in 60 innings of work. His 3-3 record in 10 starts is also nothing to write home about.
The Cardinals have won three straight and eight out of 11 with Saturday's matchup still pending, and that's what has gotten them back into the postseason picture. In this stretch, they have only allowed more than four runs once, and are scoring 4.73 runs per game.
Jake Westbrook hasn't pitched very well since being traded to St. Louis from the Cleveland Indians at the deadline last year. However, over the course of his last four starts, he has been the pitcher that the Cardinals thought they were getting.
Westbrook has allowed just 10 earned runs in his last four starts, averaging six innings of work in those outings.
He has only started against the Braves three times in his career, going 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA. He allowed two runs in six frames against Atlanta in his one start this year in April.
The Cardinals have won four of the last five and nine of the last 12 in this series coming into the weekend. The Braves have scored three runs of fewer in four of the last five.
In respect to the total, the 'over' is 7-2 in the last nine clashes, and 6-2-2 in Hudson's 10 starts against the Cardinals.
Showers are in the forecast in St. Louis, as there is a 40 percent chance of rain. Temperatures should be in the low-to-mid 80s with relatively light winds.
Two teams that are trying to make it to the postseason in the National League will duke it out on Sunday at Busch Stadium, as the St. Louis Cardinals face off with the Atlanta Braves.
MLB betting festivities get started at 2:10 p.m. (ET) in the Gateway to the West, and there will be live television coverage on FOX Sports Midwest and FOX Sports South.
It wasn't that long ago that the Cards probably thought they were out of the postseason, but with a little over two weeks to play, perhaps they aren't out of it quite yet. St. Louis was six games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the loss column in the NL Central entering Saturday, and the same distance back in the loss column of the Braves for the NL Wild Card.
Meanwhile, Atlanta's once very, very comfortable lead in the NL Wild Card has dwindled just a bit; getting swept in this series would be devastating and would make things a lot less comfortable down the stretch.
The Braves' Tim Hudson looks like he could be running out of gas. In his last three starts, he has thrown 18 1/3-innings and allowed nine runs on 22 hits.
The good news is that his splits are still fantastic for the season. Hudson is 14-9 with a 3.14 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Batters are only hitting .231 against him.
Hudson hasn't pitched well against St. Louis is his career, allowing 35 runs in 60 innings of work. His 3-3 record in 10 starts is also nothing to write home about.
The Cardinals have won three straight and eight out of 11 with Saturday's matchup still pending, and that's what has gotten them back into the postseason picture. In this stretch, they have only allowed more than four runs once, and are scoring 4.73 runs per game.
Jake Westbrook hasn't pitched very well since being traded to St. Louis from the Cleveland Indians at the deadline last year. However, over the course of his last four starts, he has been the pitcher that the Cardinals thought they were getting.
Westbrook has allowed just 10 earned runs in his last four starts, averaging six innings of work in those outings.
He has only started against the Braves three times in his career, going 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA. He allowed two runs in six frames against Atlanta in his one start this year in April.
The Cardinals have won four of the last five and nine of the last 12 in this series coming into the weekend. The Braves have scored three runs of fewer in four of the last five.
In respect to the total, the 'over' is 7-2 in the last nine clashes, and 6-2-2 in Hudson's 10 starts against the Cardinals.
Showers are in the forecast in St. Louis, as there is a 40 percent chance of rain. Temperatures should be in the low-to-mid 80s with relatively light winds.
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