This weekend series in St. Louis may represent an early World Series preview as the NL leading Cardinals ( 23-9, $1,279 ) take on one of the American League’s best in the Detroit Tigers ( 20-13, $536 ).
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Cardinals don’t hit home runs, have yet to receive much production from their biggest offseason acquisition in Jason Heyward and have lost their ace for the season, but have still managed to put up baseball’s best record to this point in the year.
Not everything has gone right for the Tigers either as Victor Martinez finished second in MVP voting a year ago, but is hitting just .235 this year and their rotation and bullpen have been inconsistent at best.
Regardless of each team’s drawbacks, they are each finding a way to get into the win column more times than not. Offensively, that means scoring just enough runs game in and game out.
Matt Carpenter is the key to the Cards’ offense. The third baseman is hitting .336 with a 1.023 OPS as he sets the tone atop the lineup.
He just missed three games due to fatigue and in that time, St. Louis dropped two in a row, illustrating just how important he is to the team’s overall success.
On the other side, the Tigers have solid players like Ian Kinsler ( .381 OBP) and Yoenis Cespedes ( .790 OPS ), but the team belongs to Miguel Cabrera. The former MVP and Triple Crown winner is back to his old form with a .947 OPS with power, average and the ability to get on base.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Both the Cards and the Tigers are without their ace from a season ago with Max Scherzer leaving Detroit for Washington and Adam Wainwright sidelined for the season.
Without their top guns, it puts added pressure on the other pitchers in the rotation including Friday’s starters: Shane Greene and Carlos Martinez.
Greene was acquired by the Tigers in the offseason to help fill some holes in the rotation and started the season on fire. He won each of his first three games and allowed just one run in 23 innings. Since then, he has been very hittable as his ERA has ballooned to 4.71, though his last start was a good one, holding the Royals to a single run through eight dominant innings of work.
Much like Greene, Martinez has found his share of struggles this season for the Cardinals. Martinez won the fifth spot out of Spring Training and does have three wins to his name in six starts.
His month of April was very solid as he pitched to a 1.73 ERA in 26 innings, but his last two outings have been nothing short of disasters. In just nine combined innings, he’s allowed 14 runs on 16 hits and eight walks.
QUOTE TO NOTE
After his last outing, a big turnaround start for Greene, he was asked what made him successful and said:
“Just threw strikes, changed speeds. They swing early and often and I knew that going into it. So I knew if I made my pitches, I could be out there for a long time.”
It sounds easier than it was, but Detroit will hope the same formula leads to another great outing on Friday.
LIVE/SITUATIONAL BETTING
Cabrera, Kinsler and Cespedes producing for the Tigers is no big surprise, but Detroit has gotten some surprise performances from a couple other hitters through the first six weeks of the season.
Both Jose Iglesias and Anthony Gose were brought in by the Tigers to improve a defense that lacked some range, particularly up the middle. The two certainly provide that range, but they have also provided some offensive pop.
Gose is currently hitting .333 with a .371 OBP while Iglesias is hitting .349 with a .404 OBP. Of course, both are getting their share of rest with Rajai Davis and Andrew Romine, their backups, hitting well at the moment, too.
St. Louis doesn’t really have a surprise contributor, though the continued development of Kolten Wong has been key for the offense. Wong is tied for second on the team with his four home runs and is third in OPS at .861, behind only Carpenter and Matt Holliday ( .957 OPS ).
PROP TALK
Both Greene and Martinez have very little experience, playing just two seasons in the Majors, and neither have faced their Friday opponents before. With that, the advantage goes to the pitchers as the hitters have not seen the movement on their pitches.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Both starters have consistency issues and each lineup has a few starters yet to produce at the level they’re expected to.
All in all, these two teams are very similar in many ways, though I give the edge at the plate to Detroit with Cabrera and company while Martinez gets the slight edge on the mound due to stuff, even though his last couple outings were questionable.
With teams as close as this, it often comes down to defense and the bullpen. For the Cardinals that is excellent news. The Tigers actually have the edge defensively with fewer errors committed and Jose Iglesias up the middle, but it is close as Nick Castellanos’ play at third brings them back to the pack.
In the pen, there is no comparison, the Cards get the nod in a landslide. St. Louis’s bullpen ranks just behind Kansas City for the best in baseball with a 1.82 ERA. Detroit’s has a 3.63 ERA and little behind Joakim Soria ( 1.13 ERA ) in the backend.
St. Louis 5, Detroit 3
The MLB odds for this game will be available first at BookMaker Sportsbook. Gamble on the game between every half inning with BookMaker’s live betting feature. Along with an adjusted in-game moneyline, you can wager on what will happen in the next at-bat or how many runs will be scored in the next inning. Live betting is the most exciting way to play!
Load your betting bankroll from your smartphone with BookMaker’s new cashier feature! Depositing and withdrawing funds from your account has never been easier. BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! First pitch for the game between the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals is scheduled for Friday, May 15, 2015, at 8:15 p.m. ET at Busch Stadium. You can watch the contest live on the MLB Network.
