San Diego Padres vs. St. Louis Cardinals MLB Baseball predictions, rivalry trends, and stats. Click for our free MLB preview and betting picks.
One of the most critical series going this weekend continues on Saturday’s sports betting card with a matchup of veteran pitchers in St. Louis where the Cardinals entertain the San Diego Padres.
Saturday, September 18, 2021 – 07:15 PM EDT at Busch Stadium
For San Diego and St. Louis, the playoffs essentially begin this weekend when the clubs collide in a set that could decide the second spot in the National League Wild Card race.
The series opened Friday with the Cardinals nursing a half-game ahead of the Padres for the second NL wild card, and the Cincinnati Reds were lurking just a game behind St. Louis in the race. Even the Philadelphia Phillies remain in the hunt 2½-games off the Cardinals’ pace.
St. Louis was a -130 favorite at the best online betting sites for Friday’s opener, and the Cardinals should be on the chalk line once again Saturday evening when Adam Wainwright (16-7, 2.88) takes the mound at Busch. Yu Darvish (8-10, 4.32) is San Diego’s scheduled starter, and the scoreboard target should be 8½-9.
The Padres slowed their descent the last two days in San Francisco with a pair of wins over the Giants. After being muffled for about a week, San Diego’s lineup came to life in the 9-6 and 7-4 decisions with those 16 runs two more than the Padres had scored in their seven previous games combined. Fernando Tatis Jr. clubbed his 39th homer on Thursday after enjoying a 4-hit effort on Wednesday.
San Francisco clubbed Darvish in the opener of that series on Monday, scoring eight times and bashing four homers in his four innings of work. That contest closed right around a pick on the MLB betting odds and was the third-straight rough road start for Darvish who is 2-6 with a 6.33 ERA in 11 starts outside of Petco Park this year.
Darvish missed the Cardinals when the clubs clashed in San Diego earlier this season but faced them frequently the past few years while pitching for the Cubs. He beat them twice last season, both of those starts at Wrigley Field and totaling 13 innings with just two runs allowed.
The last time Darvish pitched at Busch was July 2019 when he and Wainwright locked into a 2-1 duel that went to St. Louis.
St. Louis had Thursday off after sweeping the Mets in New York earlier this week. The Cardinals begin this series on a 5-game win streak, and with dubyas in seven of their last eight. The pitching has been fabulous during the 7-1 stretch, and the offense came to life Wednesday when Harris Bader led a four-home run attack in an 11-4 win at New York.
When the Cardinals went 1-4 in April with Wainwright on the hill, there really wasn’t any reason to think this was going to work out to be one of those feel-good, turn back the clock stories. St. Louis has since won 18 of Wainwright’s 24 assignments, most recently this past Monday in New York where he posted six shutout innings during a 7-0 final over the Mets that YouWager closed as a pick. It was a double 40-year-old battle with Wainwright facing New York’s Rich Hill.
Wainwright didn’t exactly have a great May following his suspect April, and one of the reasons was a 13-3 loss to the Padres in San Diego. San Diego hitters managed to take him deep in each of the first three innings, Wainwright exiting after 12 outs having allowed six runs. Home runs have hurt him some at home this season, but Wainwright has been solid otherwise with a 2.71 ERA and the Cardinals 11-6 in his starts at Busch.
San Diego swept three from the Cardinals at Petco Park back in May, and ‘over’ bettors also enjoyed a broom job with winning tickets. You have to go back to the third series of the 2019 season for both teams to find the last time the Padres and Cards played in St. Louis. San Diego won two of those three matchups, both triumphs also ‘over’ winners.
Cloudy with humid temps in the low-80s is the Saturday night forecast some 36 hours before the contest, so bettors will want to get an update on that before getting their wagers down. Considering Darvish’s recent efforts on the road, I can’t help but like Wainwright and St. Louis with my free MLB pick.
MLB Pick: Cardinals (-115) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.