Los Angeles Angels (15-14) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (10-19)
May 3, 2023 7:45 pm EDT
The Line: St. Louis Cardinals +100 / Los Angeles Angels -125; Over/Under: +8
(Get latest betting odds)
The Los Angeles Angels and the St. Louis Cardinals meet Thursday in MLB action from Busch Stadium. This will be the finale in a three-game series. The Angels took a four-run win in the opener, then on Wednesday in game two Los Angeles kept it up with a two-run comeback victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Los Angeles Angels
The Angels bagged four runs in the first inning during the Tuesday opener of this set, cruising to a 5-1 victory. On Wednesday Los Angeles posted three runs in the top of the ninth during a 6-4 win. Starter Shohei Ohtani logged 5.0 innings, four earned, five hits, one walk and 13 Ks.
For the starter job on Thursday the Angels will go with Griffin Canning. In his three starts so far Canning is 1-0 with a 4.11 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 15.1 innings. Canning is 13-13 in his career with a 4.69 ERA and 229 Ks in 224.2 innings.
St. Louis Cardinals
Over on the Cardinals’ side, they could only muster four team hits in the opener and couldn’t score outside of the fifth inning. On Wednesday St. Louis was out-hit 13-7 in the defeat. Miles Mikolas finished with 5.2 innings, three earned, eight hits and five strikeouts in the start.
It’ll be Jack Flaherty in the start on Thursday for the Cardinals. Over his six starts so far Flaherty is 2-3 with a 3.94 ERA and 33 strikeouts over 32.0 frames. Flaherty is 36-28 with a 3.44 ERA in 108 career games (104 starts).
The Angels are 9-4 in their last 13 in game three of a series and 7-15 in their last 22 interleague games. Los Angeles is 2-8 in their last 10 Thursday games.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals are 18-8 in their last 26 in game three of a series and the over is 3-1-1 in St. Louis’ last five in game three of a series. The over is 7-3 in St. Louis’ last 10 Thursday games.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stick with the Angels. This should be a decent starter matchup regardless, though. Canning has seven combined earned runs over his last three starts in 15.1 innings. As for Flaherty, he’s posted 11 earned over his last three in 16.2 frames. In the Wednesday matchup, the Angels bullpen had a great outing with 4.0 innings, two hits, zero earned, zero walks and four strikeouts. I like another nice pitching performance here on both sides, with the Angels ultimately securing the sweep.
