Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (50-45) vs Atlanta Braves (41-52)
Time: 1:15pm CT Saturday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Erick Fedde (3-9, 4.79 ERA) vs TBD
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Cardinals -132, Braves +108
Total: 9.5 (over -101, under -121)
Cards Look To Bounce Back
The St. Louis Cardinals look to rebound from a frustrating loss last night when they take on the Atlanta Braves this afternoon at Busch Stadium.
Despite getting 6 shutout innings from their bullpen, the Cards fell short because they couldn’t break through against the Braves bullpen with Atlanta relievers firing 6 scoreless innings of their own.
Fedde Gets Another Chance
The Redbirds are giving Erick Fedde another chance to start today after a disastrous last three outings. During that stretch, Fedde has pitched 10 innings while getting throttled for 17 runs and 20 hits with 9 walks and only 2 strikeouts.
His career numbers against the Braves don’t look any better either. Fedde is 0-6 lifetime against the Braves with a 9.98 ERA in 11 games (10 starts).
Braves With Good History Vs. Fedde
The Braves have plenty of hitters who have enjoyed success against Fedde, including Marcell Ozuna. The former Cardinal is 9-for-15 with 5 walks (.600 batting average, .700 OBP) to go along with 2 home runs and 6 RBI off Fedde. Michael Harris II is 5-for-7 against Fedde, and Ronald Acuna Jr. has 2 home runs, a .429 OBP, and 1.134 OPS in 17 at-bats against him.
As of the time of this writing, today’s starter for the Braves is TBD with their starting rotation having been ravaged by injury. They also suffered another injury last night, as star third baseman Austin Riley was put on the IL this morning with a strained right abdomen.
My Pick
I am on the fade Fedde train until he can prove he can be effective again. The Braves have been his nemesis throughout his career, and I would be surprised if all of a sudden he starts dealing today.
I’m eliminating the Cardinals’ offense from the equation for this pick because we don’t know who is pitching for Atlanta. So I’m taking the Braves to score at least 3 runs in the first 5 innings. If Fedde goes 5 innings and gives up 3 runs, I think most Cardinals fans would actually take that as a decent start, but that would still be enough for us to cash this bet at plus money.
Pick: Braves over 2.5 runs scored in the first five innings at +105 on DraftKings (bet to -110)
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