COLORADO ROCKIES @ ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Baseball : North America : MLB
Friday, August 12th, 2011, 8:15PM US
(1:15AM GMT)

---

PREVIEW

The Cardinals managed to win the series finale against Milwaukee yesterday and will look to build on that 5-2 result with a win over the Colorado Rockies. The Cardinals are just 4 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central, so cannot afford to mess up tonight. At home, I don't feel they will.

The St. Louis Cardinals go with Kyle Lohse tonight. The right-handed pitcher has a winning 9-7 mark with a 3.45ERA. However, we get a decent price on St. Louis because Lohse hasn't been commanding of late. He lasted just 3 innings in his last game, at Florida, and gave up 3 runs. Prior to that, he won just 1 of 6 starts.

Lohse is well rested though, as the team gave him extra time out, so I expect him to do better. The real reason I like the Cards tonight is because of what will happen when Colorado pitch.

The Colorado Rockies go with Aaron Cook to get the series opening win. The right-hander is 2-6 with a 5.05ERA. The Cardinals are the highest scoring team in the NL, and have Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman in this team, who co-lead the league with 28 homers each!

Cook is being hit for .312 by opposing batters, which means he he likely to struggle against a red hot team batting in their own backyard. Looking at stats, we see Cook has walked more than he has struck out, 25:30. With the Rockies losing 8 of his last 10 starts, the only team to be considering here is St. Louis.

TEAM STATS

Colorado Rockies
Overall 55-64, Streak L2

St. Louis Cardinals
Overall 63-55, Streak W1

BETTING VERDICT

I believe the Cardinals will win tonight.

The Pick :

St. Louis Cardinals

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the St. Louis Cardinals to win @ 1.67 (Pinnacle)