Saturday’s pro baseball card features a solid pair of games to wager on, as the Cardinals and Cubs battle from Wrigley Field and the Yankees and Angels continue their series in Los Angeles. Both games will be televised regionally on Fox, with the first pitch scheduled for 4:10 p.m. EDT.
Let’s take a closer look.
Cardinals at Cubs
The Cardinals look to finish up the first-half of the season strong when it meets the Cubs this afternoon. St. Louis has taken seven of the first 10 meetings, including an 8-3 white-washing yesterday. The combined 11 runs easily eclipsed the closing total of 8, which improved the ‘over’ to 4-0 in the four games played at Chicago this year.
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| Albert Pujols and the Cardinals' offense has been on fire lately. (AP Images) |
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The Cubs’ loss on Thursday to the Cards was their third straight at home. The offense has been held to five total runs during this stretch and hasn’t had the pop from last year. Chicago hopes Ted Lilly (8-6, 3.32 ERA) can stop the bleeding today when he takes the mound. Lilly has been lights out at home this year, going 5-1 in eight starts, surrendering just 12 earned runs over 55 innings. In his recent outing last Sunday, Lilly handcuffed the Brewers for nine hits and two runs over 6 2-3 innings in an 8-2 Cubs’ victory. Lilly pitched well against the Cards on May 19, but still came up short as the team was blanked 3-0 on the road. Despite the loss, the lefty owns a 6-3 career mark against St. Louis in 12 starts. Last year, he went 3-0 in five starts with a 3.06 ERA against St. Louis.
St. Louis counters with Brad Thompson (2-5, 4.92 ERA), who hopes to break out of a three-game losing skid on Saturday. The right-hander has been roughed up for 24 hits and 13 runs over 16 innings during this span. And, the damage has come against the Mets, Giants and Reds, three teams that really don’t scare you on paper. This will be Johnson’s first start against Chicago.
The Cardinals have posted 32 runs in the last five games but are averaging just 3.5 runs per game against lefties this year. The ‘over/under’ won’t be announced for this matchup until the weather updates are provided. Lilly has been listed as a $1.50 home favorite.
Yankees at Angels
After finding out that All-Star Torii Hunter (groin) and Vladimir Guerrero (knee) were going on the 15-day DL, the Angels knew that their pitching staff had to step up. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case on Friday but it didn’t matter as Los Angeles erupted for a 10-6 victory over New York. A pair of unlikely sluggers, Kendry Morales and Erick Aybar, hit three-run homers to rally the club from a four-run deficit.
Even though the Yankees captured two of three from the Angels earlier this year in the Bronx, this head-to-head battle has been all about Los Angeles. Mike Scioscia’s team has won 15 of the last 20 versus the Yanks in Anaheim and they are 30-17 (64%) against them in their previous 47 encounters overall.
New York looks to bounce back today behind lefty Andy Pettitte (8-4, 4.53 ERA) on Saturday. He hasn’t been consistent all year but that might be a good thing for the Yankees. Pettitte has followed up good spots with bad ones and vice versa. In his last outing, the veteran was tagged for five hits and six runs over six innings in a 7-6 loss to the Blue Jays last Monday. Based on those rends, most would expect him to bounce back this afternoon. Also, Pettitte has gone 4-1 on the road this year and his 12-8 (60%) career record over the Angels is positive. The ‘under’ has gone 7-3 in his last 10 starts. L.A. has managed to average five runs per game against southpaws this year, which has helped the team go 14-10.
The Angels’ Jered Weaver (9-3, 3.15 ERA) has gone 2-2 in last four starts after stringing together four consecutive victories. In his most recent victory, Weaver struck out nine and held the Rangers to three runs in the Angels’ 9-4 win last Monday. The right-handed hurler owns a 3-1 career mark versus the Yanks but he earned a no-decision on May 1 when New York topped Los Angeles, 10-9. Weaver gave up four runs in the first but settled down to throw five scoreless innings afterwards and put himself in line for the win. Unfortunately the bullpen folded, giving up six in the last two innings.
The Angels have only played five day games at home this year, yet they’ve produced a 4-1 mark. Overall, the Angels are 14-6 in daytime games. New York hasn’t been too shabby in afternoon affairs, going 18-12.
Total players should note that the Yanks’ offense has scored four-plus runs in 16 straight games and just tagged the Twins for 20 runs during their recent three-game road sweep. The ‘over’ has cashed in all four meetings between the two this year.
Chris David can be reached at cdavid@vegasinsider.com
