MLB BASEBALL BETTING PREVIEW - ST. LOUIS CARDINALS @ ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

MLB Baseball

2012-05-07 - St. Louis Cardinals at Arizona Diamondbacks

A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS @ ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Baseball : North America : MLB
Monday, May 7th, 2012, 9:40PM US
(2:40AM GMT)

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PREVIEW

St. Louis slumped for a few games there but bounced back to take the final game in their series against Houston with a typically strong offensive showing, finishing 8-1. That put an end to a 3 game losing streak, and the Cardinals will want to keep the Ws coming as they try and improve on their 17-11 mark. The champions are in the desert to start a 3 game series against the Diamondbacks, who are 14-15 and in the middle of a slump.

Arizona have now lost 2 straight, and 4 of their last 5 games, but will be hopeful after watching Houston have some success restricting St. Louis over their recent series. The Diamondbacks send Joe Saunders to the hill, hoping his 2-1 mark and 1.24ERA will lead them to a win in the opener. The southpaw has been quite solid so far, giving up just 7 runs in 36 innings of work so far, but his last start saw him give up 3 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings against Washington.

The Cardinals counter with a stud of their own, Lance Lynn. He is 5-0 with a fantastic 1.60ERA an is bidding to become the first pitcher to record 6 wins this season. So far he has pitched almsot 34 innings and given up just 6 runs, and struck out a whopping 30 batters! He comes into this off his worst start, giving up 2 runs on 3 hots in just under 7 innings of work against Pittsburgh, but the rest of the team scored 12 runs for him so it didn't matter (not that 2 runs is a lot to give up anyway!)

Lynn faced the Diamondbacks last season from the bullpen, but did not give up any runs. St. Louis' offensive numbers away are only just better than Arizonas offensive numbers at home, 4.31 to 4.15 but there is a marked difference in runs surrendered. While the Cards give up just 2.88 away, giving them a 9-7 road record, the Diamondbacks are just 7-9 at home, where they are getting tagged for 5.23 runs on average!

Need I say more?

BETTING VERDICT

I'm going with the Cardinals on this one.

The Cardinals have just lost a series in Houston, and there is just no way they will come out here taking anyone for granted. They're facing a very good pitcher, so will be focused, and then we can be confident their own ace will damn near blank Arizona to improve his already stunning numbers further.

Arizona have not been scoring many runs lately, and are really struggling on that side of the ball. More chances of the Cards scoring than the D-backs so we can go with St. Louis again.

The Pick :