Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals: MLB Odds, Analysis, Betting Preview
The St. Louis Cardinals upset the Chicago Cubs as home underdogs on Sunday night despite blowing a late 3-0 lead, and they will attempt to make it two straight over the defending World Series champions Tuesday as home betting underdogs again at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.
The Cardinals won the season opener 4-3 on a walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. The hero in that game for St. Louis was 25-year-old outfielder Randal Grichuk, who had the game-winning hit and opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the eighth.
Willson Contreras tied the game for Chicago with a three-run home run in the top of the ninth on the eighth and final hit for the visitors.
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The starting pitching matchup for the second game of the three-game series between the National League Central rivals will pit Jake Arrieta (18-8, 3.10 ERA in 2016) of the Cubs against Adam Wainwright (13-9, 4.62) of the Cardinals.
Arrieta pitched well against St. Louis last season, going 3-1 in four starts with a 2.38 ERA. He struck out 26 Cardinals hitters in 22.2 innings, allowing 22 hits, including two home runs, and walking eight.
Wainwright was a shell of his former self a year ago and hopes to bounce back in his 12th MLB season, with the previous 11 all spent in St. Louis. His ERA was the highest of his career as a starter, although he still managed to make 33 appearances after missing most of the previous year due to an Achilles injury.
Unlike Arrieta though, he struggled versus his opponent last season, going 1-1 in three starts with a 7.98 ERA.
Following Sunday's victory, the Cards now have an 8-6 edge in the past 14 meetings, according to the OddsShark MLB database. However, it was the first time St. Louis won as an underdog during that stretch, with the team favored in the other seven wins.
The total landed right on the closing number of seven runs, making the under 5-1-1 in the last seven. But four of those five unders saw the total close higher than seven.
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