In this article we will formulate a St. Louis Cardinals vs LA Dodgers prediction for this MLB game on Sunday, August 18th at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. Let’s take a look at the prediction for game three in the series.
St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview
The St. Louis Cardinals are 61-62 this season and they have lost five of their last six games. St. Louis lost the first game in this series, but they won game two by a score of 5-2. Prior to this series, the Cardinals were swept by the Reds, split two games with the Royals, and won two out of three against the Rays. St. Louis is 4-8 in their last 12 games and they are second in the NL Central.
The St. Louis pitching staff has a 4.19 ERA, a 1.27 WHIP, and a .252 opponent batting average. The Cardinals offense has scored 507 runs with a .246 batting average and a .309 on base percentage. Paul Goldschmidt is batting .229 with 19 home runs and 49 RBI’s for the Cardinals this season.
LA Dodgers Betting Preview
The Los Angeles Dodgers are 72-52 this year and they have lost three of their last four games. LA won game one in this series by a score of 7-6, but they dropped game two. Prior to this series, the Dodgers split four games with the Brewers, swept the Pirates in three games, and lost two out of three against the Phillies. Los Angeles is 6-3 in their last nine games and they are first in the NL West.
The Los Angeles pitching staff has a 3.78 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, and a .233 opponent batting average. The Dodgers offense has scored 611 runs with a .252 batting average and a .330 on base percentage. Shohei Ohtani is batting .291 with 38 home runs and 87 RBI’s for the Dodgers this season.
Starting Pitchers
The projected starting pitcher for St. Louis is Sonny Gray, who is 11-7 with a 3.93 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP over 130.2 innings pitched this year. Gray has allowed at least five earned runs in three of his last five starts. The projected starting pitcher for Los Angeles is Clayton Kershaw, who is 1-2 with a 3.50 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP over 18.0 innings pitched this year. Kershaw has allowed one earned run in each of his last two starts.
Why the Dodgers will beat the Cardinals
- The Dodgers have won seven of their last eight games against the Cardinals following a loss.
- The Cardinals have lost each of their last four games against National League opponents following a win.
- The Cardinals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last five home games against National League opponents following a home win.
- The Dodgers have covered the run line in nine of their last 11 day games against National League opponents following a road loss.
- The Cardinals have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last three day games against National League opponents.
- The Dodgers have led after 5 innings in each of their last five day games against opponents that held a losing record.
Total Runs Facts
- Each of the Dodgers’ last four day games against National League opponents have gone OVER the total runs line.
- Four of the Cardinals’ last five games against NL West opponents have gone OVER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Dodgers’ last three day games.
St. Louis Cardinals Player Prop Facts
- Brendan Donovan has recorded a Double in four of the Cardinals’ last five games against opponents that held a winning record.
- Brendan Donovan has recorded at least one RBI in four of the Cardinals’ last five games against NL West opponents.
- Sonny Gray has recorded a win in four of his last five appearances against opponents that held a winning record.
- Masyn Winn has scored at least one run in each of his last six appearances against opponents that held a winning record.
- Sonny Gray has recorded six or more strikeouts in each of his last 10 appearances against opponents that held a winning record.
- Brendan Donovan has recorded at least one hit in each of the Cardinals’ last 11 games against NL West opponents.
- Brendan Donovan has recorded at least one total base in each of the Cardinals’ last 11 games against NL West opponents.
- Nolan Gorman has recorded a Single in each of his last six appearances against the Dodgers after playing the previous day.
- Masyn Winn has hit a home run in three of the Cardinals’ last four games as home underdogs.
- Sonny Gray ranks T7th in the league for total Strikeouts (162) this season.
Los Angeles Dodgers Player Prop Facts
- Clayton Kershaw has recorded a win in 10 of his last 11 appearances against NL Central opponents.
- Clayton Kershaw has recorded five or more strikeouts in each of his last 15 appearances against the Cardinals.
- Miguel Rojas has recorded at least one Single in each of his last six appearances at Busch Stadium.
- Mookie Betts has hit a home run in five of his last seven appearances with the Dodgers as favorites against the Cardinals.
- Will Smith has scored at least one run in each of his last five appearances in day games against teams that held a losing record.
- Will Smith has recorded at least one RBI in each of his last four appearances in day games against NL teams that held a losing record.
- Freddie Freeman has recorded at least one hit in each of the Dodgers’ last 20 road games against NL Central opponents that held a losing record.
- Freddie Freeman has recorded at least one total base in each of the Dodgers’ last 20 road games against NL Central opponents that held a losing record.
- Will Smith has recorded a Double in four of his last five appearances in day games against teams that held a losing record.
- Shohei Ohtani ranks 2nd in the league in Home Runs (38) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The St. Louis Cardinals rank 26th in the league for strikeouts this season (978).
- The St. Louis Cardinals rank 25th in the league for doubles this season (182).
- The Los Angeles Dodgers rank 2nd in the league for walks this season (461).
- The Los Angeles Dodgers rank 3rd in the league for home runs this season (166).
St. Louis Cardinals vs LA Dodgers Prediction
St. Louis was able to pick up a much needed win on Saturday night, but they need to string some wins together to stick around in the NL Wild Card race. The Cardinals are 32-28 at home this year, while the Dodgers are 34-30 on the road. Los Angeles has dropped three out of four and the Padres/Diamondbacks are closing in, so each game is very important for them. Kershaw pitched well for LA in his last start and it looks like he is almost fully stretched out. On the other side, Sonny Gray has struggled in recent outings and I expect more of the same here. My St. Louis Cardinals vs LA Dodgers prediction is for the Dodgers to get the win.