MLB Odds, Picks, Predictions: Cardinals vs. Padres Betting Preview (Wednesday, September 21)
Justin Berl/Getty Images. Pictured: Albert Pujols #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals.
- The St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres continue their series on Wednesday.
- The Padres enter the matchup as home favorites, but Nick Shlain explains why he likes the underdog.
- Shlain breaks down the game and his betting pick below.
Cardinals vs. Padres Odds
| Cardinals Odds | +116 |
| Padres Odds | -134 |
| Over/Under | 7.5 (-106/-114) |
| Time | 9:40 p.m. ET |
| TV | MLB.TV |
| Odds via FanDuel. Get up-to-the-minute MLB odds here. | |
With about 15 games left in the regular season for most teams, the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres seem destined for October baseball.
St. Louis has an eight and a half game lead on the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central division entering play Wednesday and the Cardinals can clinch the division after six more wins or Brewers losses. San Diego missed out on the division as the Dodgers ran away from them in the standings, but still hold onto one of the league's wild card spots.
Down the home stretch they go, but who will ultimately get the job done tonight and take home the victory?
Cardinals Can Handle Lefty Pitching
The Cardinals will face Blake Snell, whose had a nice bounce back season this year. Snell has a 3.85 ERA, 3.97 xFIP and a 3.50 xERA to go along with a 31% K%. Snell has only allowed a .143 ISO to right-handed hitters this season, but the Cardinals have a lot of power in their lineup against southpaws.
Albert Pujols, Paul Goldschmidt, and Nolan Arenado all have ISOs above .375 against left-handed pitching this season. Dylan Carlson and Tommy Edman each have ISOs above .184 against left-handed pitching. If the Cardinals are going to do damage against Snell, they're going to need the power in this lineup to show up.
Padres Offense Lacking at Home
The Padres will face Miles Mikolas here. He has solid 3.46 ERA overall, but his xFIP is over a full run higher at 3.47 and he has a 4.56 ERA on the road this season. He's allowed at least four earned runs and failed to complete six innings in each of his last two road starts.
Mikolas allows a .150 ISO to right-handed hitters and a .149 ISO to left-handed hitters. Brandon Drury, Manny Machado, and Juan Soto all have ISOs above .200 against right-handed pitching this season. San Diego is 24th in all of baseball averaging 3.84 runs per game at home this season.
Cardinals-Padres Pick
The Padres were able to handle the Cardinals last night and win 5-0, but today's a new day. The Padres deserve to be the favorite here with Snell on the mound, but the Cardinals are the better team overall and that last line of the previous paragraph is what sways me to the Cardinals side most.
The Padres offense hasn't been getting it done at home all year and while Mikolas has struggled on the road maybe San Diego will let him hang around in this game rather than knock him around. Anyway, I'm on the Cardinals moneyline.
Pick: Cardinals ML +115
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