The St. Louis Cardinals haven't won a series this year against a team which currently has a winning record. That bodes poorly for Saturday's soiree against the Washington Nationals.
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PITCHING MATCHUP
Adam Wainwright may legitimately be at the end of the line for his career. Sure, he's 4-3 on the season, but he's got a 5.77 ERA, and men are reaching base at a .353 clip against him. That's just so unlike the man who won 20 games just two years ago.
The real concern with Wainwright is the fact that his WHIP is 1.54. He's flat out allowing too many men on base, and he's becoming far too easy to hit. Even though he's only allowed a reasonable five home runs and still does a really good job of keeping the ball on the ground for the most part, if you leave too many balls in the middle of the strike zone against Bryce Harper and company, you're asking to get ripped.
Gio Gonzalez has been either really good or really bad this year. In his last 10 starts dating back to last year, Gonzalez has allowed no runs or one run in seven of the 10 and at least five runs in two of the other three. In general, live betting fans will get a pretty good idea of which Gio they're dealing with relatively early on, though it's entirely possible it'll be too late if he's not on his game by the time the indications show through.
Bettors should be concerned about Gonzalez's last start in which he allowed three home runs to the Mets. He only allowed three for the whole season prior to that point, and he conceded just eight dingers in 175.2 innings last season.
ADVANCED STATS
Common logic suggests that the Cubs have the best offense in the NL Central. The Cardinals though, have the best slugging percentage in the division and the second best mark in the bigs behind the Red Sox at .462.
Randal Grichuk, Matt Holliday, Aledmys Diaz, Brandon Moss and Matt Carpenter are all on pace for 20+ home runs this year, and Jedd Gyorko, Matt Adams and Stephen Piscotty aren't far off.
Keep a close eye on the opening innings for Gonzalez. If the ball is staying up in the zone, there's a real chance the Cardinals could do some slugging against him at some point in this game. Teams which have the ability to hit homers at this type of a rate all up and down the lineup can be dangerous, but a pitcher like Gonzalez who normally keeps the ball down should be able to handle all of the power.
TALKING BULLPENS
These last few weeks, Jonathan Papelbon has been really doing the job for the Nationals. However, we're a little concerned about how he's pitched in one-run games in particular. He hasn't had a save situation in a one-run game since April 29, and he's only been in said spot three times this season.
In those three games, he's got two saves and one blown save.
Sure, anything can happen in a such a small sample set, but Papelbon's history suggests he can give up runs in bunches. Not only might a team like this with so much power be able to knock Papelbon out of a game with a blown save, but the Cards could get him for a loss as well. We're not sold in live betting that a game featuring Papelbon in the ninth is a done deal.
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Don't miss out on getting paid because you couldn't bet. Click here and deposit at BookMaker now! The duel between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Nationals will take place Saturday, May 28, 2016 at 7:15 p.m. ET at Nationals Park. Catch the action live on FOX.
