With the entire MLB in action on Saturday, fans have a ton of options for weekend betting cards and entertaining matchups to check in on throughout the evening. With the St. Louis Cardinals hosting the San Diego Padres in game three of this four-outing set, there’s some appeal to this matchup at 7:10 p.m. EST tonight.
Here’s a Cardinals vs. Padres prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Saturday’s action.
Cardinals vs. Padres prediction, preview
The Cardinals took the first two games of this series with 9-7 and 3-0 victories, so they look to secure the series win with one more positive result tonight. At 54-51 overall and 3-5 since the All-Star break, St. Louis dropped all the way to fourth in the NL Central standings over the last couple of weeks as their hot start to the campaign slowed.
As for the Padres, the results of this series thus far were quite a disappointment as their own post-ASG woes continue. They’re also 3-5 since the season resumed and entered this series after dropping two of three contests to the Miami Marlins previously. At 55-49, they remain second place in the NL West but need some magic to catch up to the first-place L.A. Dodgers.
Both teams are batting somewhat well since the All-Star Game with the Cardinals hitting .267 with a .733 OPS while the Padres aren’t too far behind at .261 as a team with a .697 OPS. The San Diego offense in particular has disappointed this year given the star power in the lineup, and they were notably shut out last time out against St. Louis, but their pitching has made up for what often becomes a lack of scoring.
With that in mind, tonight’s matchup on the mound will make all the difference. Lefty Matthew Liberatore (4.13 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 80 SO) starts for the Cardinals against Padres right-hander Randy Vasquez (3.73 ERA, 1.41 ERA, 50 SO).
Cardinals vs. Padres pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Cardinals as a -150 home favorite on the Moneyline while the Padres slot in as +123 underdogs. The run total sits at a combined nine runs as things currently stand.
The Padres’ offense posts nearly-identical splits on both sides of the plate at .246 against lefties and .247 against righties, so there’s not much to exploit against Liberatore there. In similar fashion, the Cardinals’ bats see the positive side of their own splits against a right-hander, so they’re also in a decent spot. However, I do think there’s value in the under tonight as both teams are averaging fewer than four runs per game since returning from the All-Star break.
It might be close, but both of these starters have somewhat respectable ERAs and it’s quite difficult to trust the San Diego batting order especially given their season-long sample. I’m taking under nine runs in this contest at -106 odds.
Best bet: Under nine runs (-106)
Click the odds on these bets to tail!
