The Los Angeles Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals meet Saturday in MLB action from Busch Stadium. This will be the third installment in a four-game series. In the Thursday opener, the Cardinals took a blowout victory. On Friday, the Dodgers evened it up with a shutout win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers had a brief lead early in the Thursday opener of this series but ultimately fell in a rough 16-8 outcome. On Friday Los Angeles posted 10 team hits in a 5-0 victory. Tony Gonsolin managed 5.0 innings in the start with one hit and three walks.
For the starter gig in the Saturday game the Dodgers will go with Noah Syndergaard. Over his eight starts so far Syndergaard is 1-3 with a 5.94 ERA and 26 Ks in 36.1 innings. Syndergaard is 58-44 with a 3.52 ERA in 154 games (152 starts) over his career.
St. Louis Cardinals
Over on the Cardinals’ side, they bagged six runs in the third inning and seven in the eighth during the big win Thursday. On Friday St. Louis couldn’t get anything going on just two hits in the loss. Starter Steven Matz lasted 4.2 innings with zero earned, six hits, two walks and six Ks.
Miles Mikolas will take the mound for the Saturday start in St. Louis. Across nine starts so far Mikolas is 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA and 41 Ks in 47.2 innings. Mikolas is 47-41 with a 3.77 ERA in 152 career games (124 starts).
The Dodgers are 40-14 in their last 54 Saturday games and 54-19 in their last 73 versus a team with a losing record. LA is 51-21 in their last 72 versus the NL Central.
Meanwhile, St. Louis is 21-10 in their last 31 in game three of a series and 1-4 in their last five Saturday games. The over is 11-3-1 in St. Louis’ last 15 at home.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll take a stab on the Cardinals in this one, even with the lifeless offensive game Friday. Mikolas has been doing a decent job lately, notching a combined five earned over his last three starts in 16.0 innings of work total. As for Syndergaard, he’s got five earned over his last three starts in 10.1 frames. In the Friday game, the Cardinals had a rough time at the plate, but the good news is that they were in the game until the eighth inning. It’s going to take a lot more offensive firepower to get a victory here, but I think the Cardinals have a decent shot at it.
