Now seven games out from qualifying for one of two NL Wild Card slots, the St. Louis Cardinals must kick it into high gear if they’re to punch a ticket to the playoffs a third straight season. While there’s still plenty of time for Mike Shildt’s squad to make a run, the clock is ticking. As for the Minnesota Twins, you can put a fork in this group of underachievers. Expected to give the Chicago White Sox a run for division bragging rights, the Twinkies have been one of the worst bets at online sportsbooks all season long. With much more riding on the outcome of this series for the home team, all the pressure will be on St. Louis to perform in the meat of the weekend set when Jake Woodford squares off against Bailey Ober in a battle of right-handers.
First pitch for this inter-league matchup between the Minnesota Twins and St. Louis Cardinals is scheduled for Saturday, July 31, 2021, at 7:15 p.m. ET from Busch Stadium. The matchup will air live on FS1. Bet on MLB odds and player props at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
MLB Betting Lines at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
Only the Arizona Diamondbacks have cost MLB bettors more money as the baseball betting season heads into the month of August. Sitting 17 games under .500 after dropping a ridiculous 17-14 decision to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday, the Twins are over $2350 in the red and have been just about as equally bad on the road -$1169 as they’ve been at home -$1182. You have to go back to the end of June to find the last time Minnesota won a series as the visiting team. It hasn’t been fun for Redbirds supporters this year either with the team $314 in the red themselves. However, the Cardinals have been much better in the comforts of their own ball park where they’ve logged a 28-20 overall record that’s equated to a $200 return on investment. Since embarrassingly dropping three of four to the Pittsburgh Pirates at the end of June, St. Louis has held serve in each of its last three home series against the D’backs, Giants and Cubs.
Probable Pitchers
Bailey Ober: The righty has logged no-decisions each of the last three times he toed the starting bump tossing 13.2 combined innings of 12 hit and 9 ER ball against the Angels, White Sox and Tigers. For the season, Ober is the owner of a 5.19 ERA and 1.27 WHIP with opponents’ batting .251 against him. In allowing 8.7 hits per nine innings, his stuff is very hittable. He has however shown a knack for missing bats evidenced by his 9.4 K/9. He should be able to send a number of Cardinals down via the strikeout with St. Louis the owner of a 25 percent K rate against righties. If his slider remains on point and his fastball continues to be placed well up in the zone, he could thrive in his first career start against a Cardinals offense that’s struggled versus right-handers No. 22.
Jake Woodford: Woodford has made two starts for the Cardinals since getting the starting nod out of the pen. He was solid in his debut as a starter against the Cubs whom he limited to six hits and 1 ER with a 6:0 K/BB ratio over 5.2 innings; a near quality start. Though he managed to go another five innings in his most recent turn at Cincinnati, the end result wasn’t as productive. The Reds got to him for seven hits and 3 ER with Jesse Winker’s two-run double in the second inning being enough to tag him with the loss after his offense found little success in handling Luis Castillo’s stuff. His blah secondary offerings simply aren’t enough to keep opposing offenses out of sorts when backed by a low 90s fastball. The regression fairies are bound to get to the right-hander; especially with his 5.62 FIP nearly 1.5 runs higher than his ERA.
Twins vs. Cardinals Prediction
As unimpressive Woodford’s stuff has looked through his 10.2 combined innings as a starter, I fully expect the Twins offense to get to him in this spot. With that, I lean to the over of Minnesota’s team total. The Twinkies have been swinging the bats real well of late in averaging 5.0 runs over their last 10 games. Ober also looks like he’s started to round into form. Sure, there’ve been a few duds here and there, but that’s what happens when three of your last five starts came against the same team. St. Louis’s offense pales in comparison to the White Sox, so look for Ober to excel in this pitcher’s park and put Minnesota in a position to win the game. Hopefully their wretched bullpen isn’t asked to do much to seal the deal!
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