ST. LOUIS CARDINALS @ PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Baseball : North America : MLB
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011, 7:05PM US
(12:05AM GMT)

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PREVIEW

That didn't go as planned last night, with the Cardinals losing to the Pirates to wreck a perfect evening for me. I'm going with the visitors again tonight. No way Pittsburgh win 2 straight for the big hitting Cards.

The Cardinals now trail Milwaukee by 6 games, thanks to last nights loss. They will go with Chris Carpenter this evening, who is 8-8 with a 3.68ERA. Carpenter has won 7 of his last 8, including a 5-2 win over the Brewers in his last match, where he gave up 2 in 8 innings.

Starting Carpenter against the Pirates is a good decision, as the veteran has a great record against Pittsburgh. Over his career, Carpenter is 12-2 against Pittsburgh, with a 2.24ERA, including 6-1 when pitching in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh are averaging less than 3 runs per game at home and should be made to work by Carpenter tonight.

Pittsburgh will counter with Jeff Karstens tonight. Karstens hasn't exactly helped his team a lot, with his last 5 starts netting just 1 win for Pittsburgh. Overall, Karstens is 9-6 with a 3.04ERA but that recent form leads me to believe he will struggle, especially as he has been hit for no fewer than 20 homers so far.

Head-to-head does not look awful for Karsten, going 1-1 with a 1.40ERA in 4 starts.

TEAM STATS

St. Louis Cardinals
Overall 65-57, Streak L1

Pittsburgh Pirates
Overall 57-63, Streak W1

BETTING VERDICT

Pujols, Berkman and the rest of the hot offence will get closer to their average runs scored tonight after plating just a few runs last night. I'm going with the Cardinals to level this series tonight.

The Pick :

St. Louis Cardinals

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the St. Louis Cardinals to win @ 1.73 (Pinnacle)