Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (43-36) vs Chicago Cubs (46-32)
Time: 6:45pm CT Tuesday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Michael McGreevy (1-1, 2.70 ERA) vs Jameson Taillon (7-4, 3.84 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Cubs -121, Cardinals -101
Total: 9 (over -105, under -116)
Cards, Cubs Play Game Two
The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs square off again tonight at Busch Stadium in the second of a four-game series.
The Cards routed the Cubs 8-2 last night to pull within 3.5 games of Chicago for the division lead. The Redbirds have won six of their last seven and are averaging 6.57 runs per game during that span.
McGreevy Is Back
Michael McGreevy will make his first ever appearance against the Cubs in this one. The right-hander is coming off a very good outing last week where he went 5 innings against the White Sox and allowed 1 run on 3 hits with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. In his brief MLB career, McGreevy has made 7 appearances and has gone 4-1 with a 2.27 ERA and 0.81 WHIP.
Several Cardinals hitters have enjoyed success against tonight’s Cubs starter Jameson Taillon, including:
Nolan Arenado - 11-for-25 (.440 average)
Brendan Donovan - 8-for-19 (.421 average)
Alec Burleson - 6-for-15 (.400 average) with 2 doubles and 2 home runs
Taillon Good History Against Cardinals
Despite those stats, Taillon has enjoyed a lot of success against the Cardinals in his career. The right-hander is 6-2 with a 3.33 ERA in 16 starts against them, including 4-0 with a 2.58 ERA in 6 starts at Busch.
Taillon has allowed 3 earned runs or less in 12 of his 15 starts this season, but he is coming off a rough outing where he was rocked for 5 runs and 8 hits in 4 innings against the Brewers.
My Pick
For the second straight night, there is not much separation between the Cardinals and Cubs on the moneyline. So I think the best play for this game resides in the player prop market.
Burleson has been absolutely raking during the month of June. He’s 28-for-77 (.364 batting average) with 5 home runs, 16 RBI, a .386 OBP, and a .996 OPS.
Combine those recent stats with his good history against Taillon, and I think Burleson is a good bet to produce tonight. I’ll take a shot on him to get 2 or more total bases. If you would have made this bet in Burleson’s last 10 games, your record would be 9-1.
Pick: Alec Burleson 2+ total bases at -110 on DraftKings (would not bet higher odds than that)
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Friday on the STL Sports Central YouTube channel. Follow him on X @GamblingDads, and click here for his daily picks on all of our St. Louis area sports teams. Picks = betting the game - minus odds betting to win 1 unit, plus odds risking 1 unit. Leans = no strong opinion, not betting the game. Disclaimer