St. Louis Cardinals (33-45) vs Houston Astros (42-37)
2023-06-29 19:15:00 EDT
The Line: Betting Odds: St. Louis Cardinals -111 / Houston Astros -111 --- Over/Under: 10
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The Houston Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals meet Thursday in MLB action from Busch Stadium. This will be the finale in a three-game series. The Cardinals powered out a two-run win in the opener, then on Wednesday Houston evened it up with a three-run victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Houston Astros
The Astros had a 2-0 lead early in the Tuesday opener of this set but eventually fell 4-2. On Wednesday Houston posted five runs in the eight inning in a comeback win 10-7. Starter Cristian Javier managed 4.0 innings with six earned on eight hits and a walk.
For the starter job Thursday it’ll be Houston’s JP France. In his nine starts this year (the first nine of his career) France is 2-3 with a 3.54 ERA and 42 Ks in 53.1 innings.
St. Louis Cardinals
Over on the Cardinals’ side, they posted two runs in the fifth inning Tuesday and held on for the victory. In game two St. Louis had a 6-3 lead going into the sixth but ultimately lost. Miles Mikolas put up 5.2 frames in the start with five earned, seven hits and three walks.
It’ll be Adam Wainwright in the starter role Thursday. Across his nine starts this year Wainwright is 3-2 with a 6.56 ERA and 24 Ks in 46.2 innings. Wainwright is 198-119 with a 3.44 ERA in 466 career games (399 starts).
The Astros are 39-12 in their last 51 Thursday games and 49-18 in their last 67 in game three of a series. Houston is 15-6 in their last 21 versus a team with a losing record.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals are 2-6 in their last eight in game three of a series and 3-11 in their last 14 versus the AL West. The under is 5-2 in St. Louis’ last seven in game three of a series.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll stay with the Astros here. Both starters could use a good showing, though. France has given up five earned over his last two starts in 12.2 innings but he’s 0-2 in that time. As for Wainwright, he coughed up seven earned on 11 hits and a walk in 3.0 innings during his last start. On Wednesday Houston had a very slow start thanks to a rough outing from Javier. That said, the Astros pen came on strong with 5.0 frames, one earned, three hits and nine Ks. I think the Astros will take the series in the rubber match.
