Philadelphia Phillies vs St. Louis Cardinals Betting Picks, Odds, Lines & Predictions

The third matchup of the 4-game series between Philadelphia and St. Louis will take place on Wednesday night at the Busch Stadium. The teams split the first two games, each winning once. After a strong start to the season, the Phillies are only a half-game back behind the Mets in the NL East. At the moment, they hold an 11-12 record. The Cardinals are also third in their division, two games behind the Brewers in the NL Central. They won 4 games out of the last five as they swept the Reds over the weekend. This is the second series between two teams this season. The first one went the Phillies’ way, as they won 2 out of 3 games at home. Philadelphia also won 7 out of 10 last games against the Cardinals. The weather should be less than ideal as there is a 66% chance for rain and 96% cloud coverage. The winds are expected at 10 mph SSE.

Philadelphia Phillies vs St. Louis Cardinals Betting Odds & Line Movement

The Cardinals have opened at-118, but the line has moved to -110 in the meantime. The Phillies are priced at -106 with most bookies. The total is set at 8.5.

Notes On The Philadelphia Phillies

With a win tonight, Philly will look to move to first place in their division. They’ve been better than expected at the start of the season, The Phillies are averaging 3.86 runs per game while their .243 batting average ranks them seven in the MLB. Rhys Hoskins leads the team in home runs with 8 along with 14 RBIs. The best batting average belongs to J.T. Realmuto with .333. Bryce Harper has also been solid with a .329 batting average and 6 long balls of his own. However, the pitching hasn’t been on the same level as the offense. The Phillies have allowed their opponents a 248 batting average which ranks them only 25th in the league. The team ERA of 4.51 is good enough 22nd in the nation.

Tonight, the Phillies will start Vince Velasquez (6.75 ERA) on the mound. Velasquez had 4 outings this season with only one start going 0-0. In only 8 innings this season, he allowed 8 runs and 9 walks, The last time he started, in a loss to Colorado, he gave up five hits and two runs in four innings. Velasquez already played against the Cardinals this season. He got 2.1 innings of relief last week, allowing three hits and zero runs and walking three.

Notes On The St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis is in fine form at the moment and will try to keep that momentum going tonight. Right now, they rank 14th on offense and 16th on defense. The Cardinals’ batting average is at .220 and they have 4.45 runs per game. They have plenty of talent on the offense, but the aging Yadier Molina has led the way so far. The veteran leads the team in batting average (.323), home runs ((5), and RBIs (14). The pitching’s been solid, too. St. Louis’s opponents have a .228 batting average which ranks the Cardinals 10th in the league.

Johan Oviedo will get his first start for the Cardinals tonight. He has only one appearance this season, coming in for 4.2 innings, allowing only two hits and no runs. This will also be his first career start vs the Phillies.

Philadelphia Phillies vs St. Louis Cardinals Betting Pick, & Prediction: OVER 8.5

In the battle of two young and untested pitchers, neither is particularly trustworthy. The Phillies give up 5.5 runs per game when playing away from home and the Cardinals should at least get to their 4.45 average. On the other hand, with Hoskins and Harper both red-hot right now, Philadelphia’s offense will get theirs, too.