Lo Duca’s Daily: Cardinals Turn To Gomber Against Brewers

With the baseball playoffs rapidly approaching, I’m going to be doing a daily article on a few of my favorite picks on the slate. Let’s dive right in!

Milwaukee Brewers (+100) at St. Louis Cardinals (-110)

The marquee matchup in MLB tonight is the showdown between Milwaukee and St. Louis. Last night, the Brewers got a 6-4 win to move three games ahead of the Cardinals in the wild-card race and 1.5 games back of the Cubs in the NL Central standings.

Tuesday's pitching matchup at Busch Stadium features a pair of southpaws at different points of their careers. Milwaukee will trot out veteran hurler Gio Gonzalez while the Cards will hand the ball to rookie Austin Gomber.

Gomber, who started the season in Triple-A, has struggled lately but may have righted the ship in his last start. Even though he gave up six hits in five innings, Gomber did what he does best and wriggled out of jams, holding the Braves to one run.

Gonzalez has been dead solid in three starts for Milwaukeee. The 33-year-old lefty has posted a 1.65 ERA and held opponents to a .234 on-base percentage in 16.1 innings since coming over from the Nats. He can really shut the door on the Cardinals tonight, but I'm not counting the Redbirds out.

St. Louis ranks fifth in MLB in wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) and wOBA (weighted on-base average), two catch-all offensive statistics, against left-handed pitching this season. Milwaukee hasn't fared as well against lefties, ranking 16th in wRC+ and 15th in wOBA.

Another reason I give the edge to Gomber is that most of the Brewers haven't faced him yet. That gives him a little more of an edge.

The pressure will be on both pitchers, but for Gomber's job is much simpler. He needs to get through the order twice and give the Cards five good innings. He will empty the tank and keep St. Louis close to Milwaukee in the standings.

Bet: Cardinals -110

Los Angeles Dodgers (-220) at Arizona Diamondbacks (+200)

My other play for Tuesday night is out west where the Arizona Diamondbacks take on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Let's face it, the D-backs have collapsed. Matt Koch will start for the Snakes tonight.

His last start came against Colorado and he was tattooed for four runs on eight hits in three innings. However, he looked great in a relief appearance against the Cubs a week ago. He notched seven strikeouts in four scoreless innings.

Like Gomber, I expect him to empty the tank and be lifted after turning the lineup over once or twice.

He faces Walker Buehler, who is turning into a superstar. It seems like he's getting stronger as the season wears on. He's struck out 21 batters combined over his past two outings.

Look for him to dominate a deflated team while Koch tries to keep pace and show Arizona he can hang in the major leagues.

Bet: Under 4 Runs (First-5-innings)