The St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets meet Wednesday in MLB action from Citi Field. This will be the final installment in a three-game series. The Cardinals managed a shutout win in the Monday opener, then on Tuesday St. Louis kept it going with an extra-innings victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
St. Louis posted four ninth-inning runs in the Monday opener, cruising to a 7-0 win. In the Tuesday game two, the Cardinals scored three runs in the top of the 11th inning and still had to hang on for a 7-6 victory. Jake Woodford put up 4.0 innings with two earned on four hits and two walks.
For the starter gig in the Wednesday finale, St. Louis will send out Jon Lester. Across 24 starts this year Lester has a 5-6 record with a 4.75 ERA and 72 Ks in 119.1 innings of work.
Over on the Mets’ side, they posted just six hits in the Monday loss, giving up 15 on the other side. On Tuesday, New York notched a pair of runs in the bottom of the 11th inning but couldn’t catch back up. Starter Marcus Stroman lasted 6.0 innings with two earned, four hits and one walk.
Starting pitcher for the Wednesday game will be the Mets’ Tylor Megill. In his 77.2 innings this year Megill has 73 hits, 36 runs (35 earned), 15 homers allowed, 20 walks, 88 Ks and a 4.06 ERA.
The Cardinals are 7-2 in their last nine in game three of a series and 12-5 in their last 17 road games. The over is 4-1 in St. Louis’ last five Wednesday games as well.
Meanwhile, the Mets are 9-4 in their last 13 Wednesday games and 7-19 in their last 26 versus a team with a winning record. The under is also 6-1 in New York’s last seven Wednesday games.
PICK: I’m going to try the Cardinals. Megill has two good starts (four earned; 12.0 innings) and two bad starts (11 earned; 9.2 innings) over his last quartet, so he needs a nice outing here if the Mets are going to be competitive. As for Lester, he’s on a nice run right now with five earned over his last four starts. I like Lester to keep it going and help St. Louis bag another win.