It’s another slate full of MLB baseball as the Milwaukee Brewers host the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday evening. The Brewers took game one of this series last night, but the division rivals will battle it out once more as the Cards attempt to shake off a recent slump and get back into the win column — and ahead of the Brew Crew in the NL Central standings.
Here’s a Brewers vs. Cardinals prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for tonight’s action.
Brewers vs. Cardinals prediction, preview
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers sit 37-33 on the season, good for second place in the NL Central. They’re just 5-5 across their last 10 contests, but are 21-14 overall at home. They’re 23rd in AVG and 25th in OPS but have scored the 11th-most runs of any team, though they’re 26th in the category over the last week. They’ll work to up that run production tonight and get back into the swing of things. As for the pitching staff, the Brewers are 14th in ERA and 17th in WHIP on the season, and while they’re 14th in strikeouts, they also fall bottom-five in walks allowed.
St. Louis Cardinals
Taking a look at the visiting Cardinals, the team sits just half a game back of the Brewers in the NL Central standings. After dropping last night’s contest against the Brewers in a scoreless outing, St. Louis falls to 3-7 in their last 10 games. The good news is they rank top-eight in AVG and runs scored with the MLB’s 11th-best OPS. Their pitching staff has cooled over recent weeks and they’re middle-of-the-pack in ERA and WHIP, and while they’re top-five in walks allowed, they’re bottom-five in strikeouts thrown and 23rd in opponent average.
Brewers vs. Cardinals pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Brewers as a fairly heavy -169 favorite to win on the Moneyline. Meanwhile, the Cardinals hold +138 Moneyline odds with a run total of 7.5.
Stud right-hander Freddy Peralta sees the start for the Brewers. With a 2.69 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 78 strikeouts across 77.0 innings, the 29-year-old is in the midst of one of his best career seasons. Cardinals starter Erick Fedde doesn’t quite boast the same numbers, but he’s still having a solid year of his own. While Fedde’s strikeout numbers are low with 46 in 73.2 innings, he throws to the tune of a respectable 3.54 ERA and 1.30 WHIP.
It’s worth noting that Brendan Donovan remains out of the Cardinals’ lineup with a toe injury, so the team is missing one of their best all-around players and top batters for this outing against a great hurler. With the team’s recent slump and the poor matchup, I lean toward another convincing win for Milwaukee. At +133 odds, I’m taking Brewers -1.5 tonight.
Best bet: MIL Brewers -1.5 (+133)
Click the odds on this bet to tail!
