MLB Baseball
2009-07-26 - St Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillie
A Sports Betting Pick by BetOnline
Baseball: United States, MLB
Sunday, 26th July 2009 – 1:35 PM ET
St. Louis may have raised their MLB betting odds a bit with Friday’s acquisition of Matt Holliday from Oakland, giving them another bat in the lineup to give Albert Pujols some protection.
They’ll wrap up their three-game set with Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon, and given the struggles of their starter, they may need all the offense they can get.
St Louis Cardinals (52-46 overall - 26-25 road)
Todd Wellemeyer (7-8, 5.68) hasn’t made it past the fifth innings in four of his last five starters, but apparently his rotation spot is safe because the Cardinals don’t have anyone better.
Nine of his appearances (eight starts) have come on the road, and he’s got a 3-3 mark to go with a 6.14 ERA. The 30-year-old righthander has faced the Phillies seven times in his career (three starts), and he has an 0-1 record with a 6.35 ERA, which can’t be encouraging if you’re looking to make the Cardinals one of your baseball picks on Sunday.
Philadelphia Phillies (54-39 overall – 25-24 home)
Joe Blanton (6-4, 4.24) has given up a grand total of two runs in his last 21.1 innings of work, which has even dropped his ERA at Citizens Bank Park to 4.26 in 10 starts, along with a 3-2 record.
Blanton has won both of his career starts against the Cardinals, posting a microscopic 1.38 ERA, and one of those wins came May 4th, when he scattered a run on four hits over six innings for his first victory of the season in a 6-1 win in St. Louis.
The Betting Verdict :
Your offshore sportsbook should favor the Phillies at home, where they had won three of their last four.
The Phillies weren’t that great in the first half of the season at Citizens Bank Park, but they look to be pulling their socks up in that respect.
Wellemeyer would be better served as a long-relief sort of pitcher, and the longer he’s in the rotation, the worse it is for St. Louis.
Meanwhile, Blanton has been a much better second-half pitcher over his career than the first, and he’ll follow up an outstanding no-decision against the Cubs with a win in these MLB odds.
The Pick :
Philadelphia Phillies
