Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (54-52) vs San Diego Padres (56-49)
Time: 1:15pm CT Sunday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Michael McGreevy (2-1, 3.49 ERA) vs Stephen Kolek (3-5, 4.28 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Cardinals -126, Padres +104
Total: 9 (over -101, under -120)
Huge Swing Game For Cards, Padres
The St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres play a critical game this afternoon at Busch Stadium as the teams close out their four-game series.
The Cards will either be 1.5 games or 3.5 games behind San Diego for the final NL Wild Card spot after today depending on this afternoon’s result, with the the trade deadline looming just four days away.
McGreevy Gets His Shot
Michael McGreevy is getting his opportunity to become a fixture in the starting rotation, and the young right-hander will look to build upon his terrific outing in Colorado last time out. McGreevy pitched 7 innings and allowed just 1 earned run to improve his career big league numbers to 5-1 with a 2.81 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 51.1 innings.
McGreevy will be facing a San Diego offense that ranks last in MLB in OPS against right-handed pitching over the past 30 days.
Kolek Gets The Call
Stephen Kolek is making another start for the Padres today. The right-hander has split time this season between the big league club and Triple-A El Paso. He returned from the minors earlier this week and was mediocre in his start against the Marlins on Tuesday, pitching 5.2 innings while giving up 3 runs on 8 hits with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts.
Kolek has a 4.28 ERA in 13 starts for San Diego this season, while he has been worse in the minors with a 6.00 ERA in 6 starts for El Paso.
My Pick
It’s exciting to see McGreevy get a legitimate shot to build some momentum in the rotation, as the Cardinals are 8-1 over the last two seasons with him on the mound.
Meanwhile the Padres have not done well behind today’s starter, as they are 4-9 in Kolek starts this season - including 7 straight losses.
I think that trend continues today. Last night was just one of those games - a good ballgame where the Padres just executed a little bit better. I trust McGreevy to put forth another strong effort and the Redbirds’ bats to have better luck this afternoon.
Look for the Cardinals to tighten up this Wild Card race and make John Mozeliak’s decisions more difficult heading into Thursday’s deadline.
Pick: Cardinals on the moneyline at -126 on DraftKings (bet to -135)
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