Posted on
5/8/2008 3:13:02 PM
MLB Baseball Betting Action – St. Louis Cardinals at Colorado Rockies
By Eric Williams
Both, the St. Louis Cardinals, (22-12, 15-18-1 O/U) and Colorado Rockies, (12-21, 17-16 O/U) have gone against conventional wisdom in the early going of the 2008 MLB season.
Despite predictions that they would be a rebuilding club not expected to do much in the NL Central this season, the St. Louis Cardinals have been one of the biggest surprises in all of online baseball betting this season by turning out to be one of the best teams in the National League this season.
The Rockies, on the other hand, were expected to contend for the NL West title at the very least, if not more, after reaching the 2007 World Series.
Each team’s last ten games clearly illustrate their respective struggles and triumphs as the Cardinals have gone 8-2 in their last ten games in the BetUS Sportsbook while Colorado is a polar opposite, 2-8 over the same span, including Tuesday night’s 6-5 loss to the Cardinals.
The Rockies will look to pick up a rare victory tonight by left-handed sending staff ace Jeff Francis, (0-3, 5.26 ERA) to the mound still looking for his first victory of the season after recording 17 wins last season.
Francis allowed four runs in the sixth inning after shutting out the Los Angeles Dodgers for five innings, to pick up another loss as the Dodgers won going away, 11-3 on Friday.
"Just a bad inning knocked me out of the game," Francis said. "It could have turned out other ways, but the blame falls on myself."
The Cardinals will counter with right-hander Adam Wainwright, (3-1, 2.60) who is coming off another solid outing in his last start as he limited the Chicago Cubs to just one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings in the Cardinals’ 5-3 win on Wednesday.
"I think my arm was given plenty of time to rest," Wainwright told his team's official Web site. "The important thing is to not push it too early. We're just getting out of April here. It's good to be a hero, but not all in the first month."
Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said his Rockies teams, which has lost 13 of their last 16 games and owns the worst record in the majors, said his team is not losing due to lack of effort.
"The game is hard for us right now," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "There's no lack of effort. We're just coming up short."
Here is a look at tonight’s key trends followed by my MLB Betting Picks.
The Cardinals are 4-0 in Wainwright’s last four starts.
The Cardinals are 4-0 in Wainwright’s last four starts on grass.
The Rockies are 10-1 in Francis' last eleven starts vs. National League Central.
The Rockies are 6-1 in Francis' last seven Wednesday starts.
The Under is 10-2-1 in Wainwright’s last 13 starts with four days of rest.
The Over is 4-1-1 in Francis' last six starts following a team loss in their previous game.
The Under is 5-1 in Francis' last six starts vs. Cardinals.
The Rockies are 5-1 in Francis' last six starts vs. Cardinals.
Analysis: I like both starting pitchers in this matchup and, although the cardinals are clearly the better team in this contest, I am going ‘against the grain’ and taking the struggling Colorado Rockies to win this contest while helping their best starting pitcher pick up his first win of the regular season, which, by the way, is long overdue for such a talented pitcher as Jeff Francis.
MLB Free Picks: Rockies 4 Cardinals 3
08:35 PM EST MLB Odds
St Louis Cardinals
Adam Wainwright - R +1½ -190
Colorado Rockies
Jeff Francis - L -1½ +160
Over 9 -105
Under 9 -115
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