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The San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals square off on Friday with first pitch set for 8:15 PM ET. The game takes place at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Logan Webb will get the ball for the Giants against Jordan Hicks for the Cardinals.
The Giants (19-12) have won five straight games. They have allowed a total of 11 runs during their past four. Darin Ruf has put together an impressive .345/.457/.483 slash line this month. Starter Logan Webb has been good, but not quite as impressive as he was in 2021 as his strikeout rate and velocity has dipped. Batters are really taking advantage of his sinker, which was one of his better pitches last year.
The Cardinals (17-14) are coming off of a home series loss to the Orioles. That followed a four-game series split at San Francisco where they dropped the final two games. Nolan Arenado (.316 average, .974 OPS, 26 RBIs) has been a consistent threat all year long. On the opposite end of the spectrum, outfielder Tyler O’Neill, who received some down-ballot MVP votes last year, has a really poor .581 OPS and has homered once since Opening Day.
Giants vs. Cardinals
Pitchers: Logan Webb vs. Jordan Hicks
First pitch: 8:15 PM ET
Giants local broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area
Cardinals local broadcast: Bally Sports Midwest
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Moneyline odds: SF -115, STL -105
Picks & predictions
Moneyline pick: STL -105
This is a toss-up, really, so take the home team with the slightly more valuable line. The Cardinals have the better lineup and the better bullpen, so while Webb will likely outshine Hicks, who probably won’t go beyond 4-5 innings, the Cardinals have enough advantages to win Friday.
Player prop pick: Tyler O’Neill UNDER 0.5 total bases (+135)
O’Neill is one of the most talented players in baseball. But he looks completely lost at the plate right now. He’s clearly pressing. Webb, with his three-quarters release and nasty breaking stuff is an uncomfortable at-bat for any right-handed hitter, but especially one who is in a huge funk.
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