To say the season hasn’t gone as expected for the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals would be an understatement. Both clubs were expected to not only contend for a playoff spot but also for a title in their respective divisions, something they are accustomed to doing. While they aren’t completely out of the picture as the calendar turns to August, time is running out. The Braves need to take advantage of a weak NL East that sees them within striking distance despite a below .500 record. The picture isn’t as bright for the Cards, who find themselves well off the pace in the NL Central and 6.5 games back in the Wild Card entering the series. Touki Toussaint will oppose Wade LeBlanc in Thursday’s series finale.
First pitch for this NL matchup between the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. ET on Thursday, August 5, 2021 from Busch Stadium. The game will air live on ESPN. Bet on MLB odds and player props at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
MLB Betting Lines at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
When you’re favored to win the division before the season starts and you enter the month of August below .500 backers are going to be pissed. While they aren’t the least profitable team in baseball the Braves are close, down nearly $700 on the moneyline. They just haven’t been able to sustain any momentum recently alternating wins and losses over their 16 games ahead of this series. Their longest winning streak since late-May has been four games and while they haven’t played themselves out of the division they aren’t doing anything to make up ground on the New York Mets. The Braves took three of four from the Cards behind outstanding pitching when the teams met in Georgia in June. The staff tossed a pair of shutouts and allowed only one run in those three wins. The Cards haven’t been a whole lot better over the last few weeks going 6-5 in 11 games before this series. While they’re lurking around .500 for the season they’ve been much better in the confines of Busch Stadium posting a 30-21 ledger while being nearly $230 in the black. They’ve won their last four home series over the DBacks, Giants, Cubs and Twins going 10-3 in that span.
Probable Pitchers
Touki Toussaint: The Braves are looking for their young righty to return to the form he flashed in his first two starts rather than what he showed in his last outing. Shelved with a shoulder injury in March, Toussaint made six minor league rehab starts before returning to the big club. And he did so in style allowing only three hits and one run over 6.2 innings to beat the Padres. He was even better in his next start yielding a run on five hits with 10 punchouts against the Phils. He got little help from the offense, though, suffering a 2-1 loss. Toussaint was staked to four-run lead in the first inning of his last outing but struggled with his control walking two and giving up a pair of homers in 3.1 innings to the Brewers. It’s hard to imagine Toussaint being as good as he was during his first two starts since he sports a career ERA of 5.79 and a lofty 1.52 WHIP.
Wade LeBlanc: There is a market for left-handed pitching; if you don’t believe me just look at LeBlanc. Plucked off the Orioles scrap heap, the Cards are the ninth team he’s toiled for in his career. He’s actually been decent since coming to St. Louis posting 3.15 ERA over 34.1 innings of his 10 appearances (6 starts). One problem area for the southpaw, other than opponents hitting nearly .300 against him in all games this season, has been his inability to prevent the long ball. He’s yielded five big flies in his limited amount of work. LeBlanc isn’t overpowering and pitches to contact. In order to be successful he has to command all his pitches and he’s rarely done that this season.
Braves at Cardinals Prediction
I can see offense reigning supreme in this matchup with a pair of starting hurlers that have a propensity to give up the long ball. I don’t trust Toussaint and I think his last start is more along the lines of what we can expect. And I certainly don’t trust LeBlanc, just like eight other clubs in MLB. If you can’t make it with the O’s you must be a liability. Both teams have the potential to breakout offensively and we’ve seen them have more success at the plate recently. If it comes down to the Braves bullpen I’ll have to stick with the home team.
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