MLB Baseball
2012-05-15 - Chicago Cubs at St Louis Cardinals
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Tuesday 15 May 2012 - First Pitch 1:45pm ET
6:45pm (British Standard Time)
Preview
The St Louis Cardinals (20-15) and the Chicago Cubs (15-20) combined for 24 hits yesterday, but it was 3 errors from the home team that ended up costing them the first game of this series by 6 runs to 4. That means the Cardinals have now lost 5 in a row at home, but they will look to get back on the horse in the second of this two game set between these Divisional rivals.
St Louis will send Kyle Lohse to the mound in the hope he can turn their fortunes around. Lohse has a 5-1 record with a 2.08 ERA this season and he is coming off an outing when he allowed just 1 run from 5 innings pitched against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The pitcher actually tweaked a hamstring in that game and that was the reason why he only lasted until the 5th innings, but it does seem his exit was precautionary and he is not set to miss his scheduled start.
Lohse really struggled against Chicago since pitching against them with the St Louis Cardinals, but he seems to have turned that around recently. In fact, he has allowed just 1 earned run in the last 12 innings he has pitched against them, all at this stadium.
The Cubs have now won back to back games and deserved the win last night in all honesty. However, they continue leaving too many runners on base and may need to produce something today if they are to avoid defeat unless Paul Maholm can continue his recent hot form.
Maholm is 4-2 this season with a 4.05 ERA, but he has really turned around his form since his first couple of starts this season. He has now won his last 4 starts while compiling a 1.07 ERA, while he didn't give up a run in 7 innings pitched in his last outing against the Atlanta Braves.
Unfortunately for the pitcher, he will need to exorcise some demons in this one as he has struggled mightily against the Cardinals in his recent starts against them. Maholm has lost his last three starts against St Louis and has a 8.40 ERA in those games, while he was tagged for 6 runs in 4 innings earlier this season in this stadium.
He has given up at least 2 runs in each of his last 8 starts against the Cardinals going back to his days as a Pittsburgh Pirate.
Head to Head
The Chicago Cubs are now leading the season series 4-3 and have taken 3 of the last 4 between the teams.
They have split the last 4 games here this season, but St Louis are 11-4 in the last 15 in the series at home.
St Louis dropped to 8-8 at home last night, Chicago are 6-10 on the road.
St Louis are 8-8 in day games, Chicago are 10-12.
Prediction
I didn't have much luck yesterday in any of the picks I made, but I am going back to the well in this one and looking for the St Louis Cardinals to get back into the win column by taking this game with a little bit of room to spare.
They are still hitting well enough but are just not getting the runs over, while they do hold the edge in the pitching department. Paul Maholm has to be respected for upping his game on the mound, but he has to overcome some real mental demons when facing this batting line up and that could be the difference in the contest.
I'll look for Kyle Lohse to continue his command over the Cubs in his last couple of starts against them and take the Cardinals again.
The Pick :
St Louis Cardinals 7-4 Chicago Cubs
