Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals Betting Predictions: July 29th 2009

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Free Pick: St. Louis Cardinals -1.5 (+185 betting odds)
Wed July 29th 2009 8:15p
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The St. Louis Cardinals have easily taken the first two games of this series by sores of 6-1 and 10-0, and as much respect as we have for Dodger starter Clayton Kershaw tonight, we are looking for another St. Louis Run Line win at a fat +185 price.

After all, Kershaw was much more hittable than usual in his last start vs. the Florida Marlins, when he was tagged for nine hits with three walks added in over six innings of a 6-3 Dodgers loss. He must now cope with a Cardinals offense that is heating up at just the right time, batting .280 as a team over the last 10 games. More importantly, after struggling vs. southpaws for much of the season, St. Louis is batting .283 against them over this 10-game period.

Besides, despite owning just a 9-9 record, Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro has an almost identical ERA as Kershaw over the whole season (2.95 vs. 2.96) and a better WHIP (1.08 vs. 1.26). The only reason Pineiro is not a bigger winner is because the Cardinals were not scoring over the first half of the season, a circumstance that has greatly changed as of late. Pineiro has allowed three runs or less in nine straight starts and in 11 of his last 12 outings.

A similar outing here should be good enough to cash a nice Run Line ticket at nearly 2/1 odds tonight.

MLB Free Pick: Cardinals -1.5 (+185)