Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (61-61) vs New York Yankees (64-57)
Time: 7:15pm CT Friday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Andre Pallante (6-9, 4.95 ERA) vs Luis Gil (0-1, 7.27 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Yankees -137, Cardinals +113
Total: 8.5 (over -123, under +100)
Cards Welcome Yankees To Busch
Two of the most storied franchises in baseball get together this weekend when the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees square off at Busch Stadium.
The Redbirds head into tonight’s series opener right at .500 on the season and 3.5 games behind the Mets for the final NL Wild Card spot. The Yankees are in third place in the AL East, but they currently hold the final AL Wild Card spot by a half-game over the Guardians.
Pallante Bad Against Good Teams
The Cardinals will need to bring their bats to keep up with the Yankees this weekend, and offense has been a struggle since the All Star break. The Cards rank dead last in MLB with 82 runs scored since the break - that’s an average of just 3.28 runs over 25 games.
Tonight’s starter Andre Pallante has been serviceable when opposing bad teams this season, but he has struggled against strong ones. Pallante has made 10 starts against teams that would currently be in the playoffs if they started today, and he is averaging less than 5 innings per start while compiling a 5.21 ERA.
Gil Rounding Back Into Form
The Yankees head into tonight’s action just 4-8 in the month of August, and they send last year’s AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil to the mound tonight.
Gil was on the IL all season up until a couple weeks ago. He got destroyed in his first start at Miami, but that appears to be a case of him shaking off the rust. Gil was much better in his second start this past Saturday, going 5.2 innings against the Astros while allowing 2 runs on 6 hits with 1 walk and 7 strikeouts.
My Pick
Neither team is firing on all cylinders right now, but I want to back the Yankees tonight. I think they have a clear advantage on the mound with Gil rounding into form and ready to deal, and I do not trust Pallante at all against a good offense.
The Yankees are coming off a series win over Minnesota while bashing 8 home runs in the 3 games, so they are showing signs of busting out of their slump. I’ll take them on the -1 spread tonight, meaning a one-run New York win would result in a push.
Pick: Yankees -1 at -110 on DraftKings (bet to -115)
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