Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (71-72) vs San Francisco Giants (72-70)
Time: 1:15pm CT Sunday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Sonny Gray (12-8, 4.43 ERA) vs Kai-Wei Teng (2-3, 7.23 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Cardinals -144, Giants +118
Total: 8 (over -105, under -115)
Cards, Giants To Decide Series Winner
The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants play the rubber game of their three-game set this afternoon at Busch Stadium.
The Redbirds can get back to the .500 mark with a victory today after last night’s dramatic, come-from-behind 3-2 win over San Francisco.
Can Gray Get Back On Track?
It has been a puzzling second half for Sonny Gray, who will toe the slab today. He has sprinkled in some dominant outings, but overall since the All Star break, Gray is 3-5 with a 6.44 ERA in 9 starts.
Gray has struggled keeping the ball in the ballpark, as he has allowed 13 home runs in 50.1 innings since the break. Opponents have a .308 batting average and a .909 OPS against him during that span.
Look Out For Chapman
Keep an eye on Matt Chapman in this one. The Giants third baseman bats fifth in the lineup today and is 13-for-39 (.333) over the last two weeks with 10 runs scored, 4 home runs, 10 RBI, and a 1.156 OPS. Chapman is also 3-for-10 with a homer lifetime off Gray.
The Giants give the ball to Kai-Wei Teng this afternoon. The right-hander has not been impressive in his big league career with a 8.19 ERA in 9 career games, but Teng is coming off a career-high 8 strikeouts in his last start at Colorado while pitching 5.1 innings of 2-run ball.
My Pick
It’s difficult to back the Cardinals today with Gray’s recent struggles and their bats having a quiet homestand (average of 3.0 runs in five games). But there’s also no way I want to bet the Giants with Teng having proven nothing as a big league starter.
Instead, I’ll back Chapman to have over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI. I like his recent form, I like his history against Gray, and I like the price of just -110.
Pick: Matt Chapman over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI at -110 on DraftKings (bet to -115)
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Wednesday night 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