The St. Louis Cardinals took Game 1 of their NL Wild Card Series by a score of 7-4, and will look to complete the two-game sweep of the San Diego Padres Thursday. First pitch for Game 2 is set for 7:08 p.m. ET at Petco Park. Below, we analyze the Cardinals-Padres betting odds and lines, with MLB picks and best bets.
Cardinals at Padres: Projected starting pitchers
RHP Adam Wainwright vs. RHP Zach Davies
Wainwright turned back the clock in 2020, as he posted a 3.15 ERA, along with a career-best 11% swinging-strike rate through 10 starts.
- He struggled mightily on the road in 2019, with a 6.22 ERA across 15 starts, but in 2020, Wainwright has put up a 3.00 ERA in four starts away from home, with 25 strikeouts in 24 innings.
- He has made 27 career postseason appearances (14 starts), during which time he has recorded a 2.81 ERA and 8.1 K/9.
Davies was a revelation for the Padres in 2020, as he put up a 2.73 ERA over 12 starts. He pitched a total of 69 1/3 innings, during which time he struck out 63 batters, walked 19 and allowed nine home runs.
- He made just five home starts in 2020 and had a 3.13 ERA and 8.8 K/9 in 31 2/3 innings. He has now made nine career starts at Petco, where he owns a 3.40 ERA and 8.0 K/9.
- Davies significantly scaled back on his sinker usage this season, while relying heavily on his changeup. After entering 2020 with a 16.8 K% for his career, he whiffed 22.8% of batters this year.
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Cardinals at Padres: Key injuries
(Get the latest injury news here.)
Cardinals
- RP John Brebbia (elbow) out
- RP Jordan Hicks (elbow) out
Padres
- RP Kirby Yates (elbow) out
- C Jason Castro (jaw) probable
Cardinals at Padres: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 10:10 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Cardinals 5, Padres 4
Money line (ML)
- Cardinals (+145)
- Padres (-162)
The Padres were tough at home this season, as they went 21-11 at Petco Park, but this looks like a pretty even matchup on the pitching side, and the line is a little too high to side with the home team. Look for the CARDINALS (+145) to complete the sweep in Game 2.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Cardinals to win would return a profit of $14.50. It would require a $16.20 wager on the Padres to win in order to make a $10 profit.
Run line/Against the spread (ATS)
- Cardinals +1.5 (-150)
- Padres -1.5 (+125)
This sets up to be a pretty close game, but despite Wainwright’s success this season, his recent struggles on the road (6.38 ERA in 48 appearances from 2016-19) still give us slight pause. Getting the extra 1.5 runs probably isn’t worth the added cost, so a PASS on the run line is the recommendation here.
Over/Under (O/U)
- Over 8.5 (-110)
- Under 8.5 (-110)
Both starting pitchers are coming off strong seasons, but Davies and Wainwright each outperformed their peripherals. Both hurlers should keep their teams in the game, but neither is likely to completely shut down their opponent Thursday evening. The total will probably end up pretty close to this number, but we’ll give a slight edge to the OVER 8.5 (-110).
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