Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (56-57) at Los Angeles Dodgers (65-47)
Time: 9:10pm CT Monday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Sonny Gray (10-5, 4.38 ERA) vs Tyler Glasnow (1-1, 3.38 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Dodgers -192, Cardinals +156
Total: 8 (over -108, under -112)
Cards, Dodgers Meet In LA
The St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers renew acquaintances tonight at Dodger Stadium when the two clubs square off in the first of a three-game set.
The Redbirds took two of three from LA when they met at Busch Stadium back in June, as the Cards held the Dodgers to just 8 runs over the three games.
Cardinals’ Bats Cold
The Cardinals entered June 30th at a season-high 9 games over .500 at 47-38. In the 28 games since then, the Cards are 9-19 and have scored only 92 runs (3.28 runs per game) - that’s the fewest runs scored in the majors during that span.
Tonight’s starter Sonny Gray is in the midst of his worst stretch of the season. Over his past three starts, Gray has pitched 13.1 innings and gotten crushed for 19 runs (17 earned) on 30 hits.
Dodgers Not Dominant Right Now
I mentioned how the Cardinals have scored the fewest runs in MLB since June 30th. The team that has scored the second-fewest runs in that stretch?
Stunningly, it’s the Dodgers.
LA has put up just 99 runs in those 27 contests for an average of 3.67 runs per game. The Dodgers are 12-15 during that time, and their NL West lead has shrunk to 3 games over the Padres.
Tyler Glasnow will be on the bump tonight looking to rebound from one of his worst starts of the season. The right-hander was roughed up last Tuesday in Cincinnati for 4 runs on 4 hits with 5 walks and 3 strikeouts in 4 innings of work.
My Pick
Neither of these lineups are in a groove right now, and I think that makes the under in the first five innings look very appealing tonight.
The struggles for Gray are going to come to an end sooner than later, as his 4.38 season ERA comes with a 3.95 xERA, 3.09 FIP, and 2.95 xFIP.
And Glasnow is an outstanding pitcher, so I’d be surprised to see him have two bad starts in a row.
The under 4.5 in the first five innings itself is priced at -154 on DraftKings, so I’m going to tack on Glasnow to record at least 5 strikeouts in the game to get the price down to -115. Glasnow averages 1.22 strikeouts per inning, so if he pitches at least 5 innings, I’d expect him to get to 5 K’s.
Pick: Same Game Parlay priced at -115 on DraftKings - Under 4.5 in the first five innings AND Tyler Glasnow to have 5+ strikeouts (bet to -120)
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