The St. Louis Cardinals (8-9) travel to face off against the Oakland Athletics (7-10) on Tuesday, April 16th. This game will be played at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland and televised on BSMW. The Cardinals are coming off a win in their previous game, while the Athletics are looking to get back on track from a loss to the Athletics. First pitch is set for 9:40 ET.

Cardinals vs Athletics

It was a low-scoring game in the most recent game of this Cardinals vs. Athletics series. St. Louis went into the matchup as -174 favorites and squeaked out a 3-1 win. Heading into the game, the Cardinals had won the first two games of the series.

Oakland wasted a good outing from Ross Stripling, as he gave up just three earned runs in 5 2/3 innings of work. Sonny Gray got the win for the Cardinals, going six innings and not giving up a run.

At the plate, the Cardinals were led by Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado, and Masyn Winn, as they were the only three Cardinals hitters to have more than one hit. Contreras. Oakland’s top hitter was Esteury Ruiz, who went 1/1 with a home run.

As the Cardinals are on the road today vs. the Athletics, they are looking to get above .500, as they currently hold an 8-9 record. In the NL Central, they are in 5th place and trail the Brewers by three games. So far, they have been just below average both at home (3-3) and on the road (5-6).

St. Louis finally picked up a series win in their most recent matchup vs. the Diamondbacks. This came after dropping two straight series. The Cardinals got things back on track in the series finale vs. Arizona. When favored, they are 3-2 this season and 5-7 as the underdog.

When the Cardinals win, they win big, with an average run margin of 2.6 runs per game. When they lose, they lose by an average of 3.1 runs per game. Their overall run line record is 11-6, and they have been a better bet on the run line as the underdog, going 8-4. On the road, their run line record is 7-4, and they have been a better bet on the run line as the underdog, going 8-4.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been trending towards the under, with their last three games all finishing below the over/under line. Their games have averaged 7.9 runs per game this season, and their over/under record is 6-10. The over/under line for today’s game against the Oakland Athletics is set at 8.5 runs, and their over/under record when the line is set at 8.5 runs is 4-4. So far this season, 35.3% of their games have had lower over/under lines than 8.5 runs.

Lance Lynn Gets The Start For The Cardinals

Lance Lynn and the Cardinals are on the road to take on the Athletics today. Lynn has started 3 games so far this season, and he has yet to pick up a win. He has gone 5 innings in each of his first 2 starts and has 6 strikeouts in each of those outings. In his last start, he gave up 4 earned runs and 8 hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Cardinals Offense Breakdown

When looking at the Cardinals’ player prop projections, we see that Nolan Gorman has the highest odds to hit a home run on the team and his home run projection is the 12th best in the league today. Brendan Donovan has the highest total hits projection on the team and his total hits projection is the 27th best in the league today. Iván Herrera is 2nd in terms of total hits and home run projections on the team.

With a record of 7-10, the Athletics are two games out of the AL West division lead. So far, they have gone just 3-8 at home, compared to 4-2 on the road. Oakland is currently on a two-game losing streak, closing out their series with the Nationals with a loss and dropping the series opener with the Cardinals.

Looking at their overall series record, the Athletics are 3-2 and have won their last three series. When coming in as the underdog, Oakland is 5-10 this season and 1-8 at home. They have yet to win a series at home, as they are just above .500 on the road.

When the Athletics are favored, they have not been a good bet on the run line, going 0-2. However, when they are the underdog, they have been a solid bet, going 8-7 on the run line. They have a losing run line record at home (3-8) and have lost two in a row on the run line as the favorite. Their average run differential in losses is -3.9 runs per game.

Through 16 games, the Oakland Athletics have gone 7-9 O/U, with an average O/U line of 8 runs per game. When the O/U line has been set at 8.5 runs, they’ve gone 2-3 O/U. So far this season, the A’s and their opponents have combined to average 7.1 runs per game. Their last game against the Cardinals went under the total of 7.5 runs, with the teams combining for just four runs.

JP Sears Gets The Start For The Athletics

JP Sears has been a solid option for the Athletics so far this season, and he will be making his first start at home against the Cardinals. Sears picked up a win in his first start of the season, going 6 1/3 innings and striking out 5. He has given up 1 home run in each of his first two starts.

Athletics Offense Breakdown

For the Athletics, we have Zack Gelof with the highest projected hits total on the team, as well as the 2nd best odds to hit a home run. His home run projection is 11th best in the league today. Shea Langeliers is our top choice to hit a home run for the A’s, with his odds coming in 9th in the league. Tyler Nevin and Abraham Toro are both in the middle of the pack in terms of their odds to hit a home run for Oakland.

Cardinals vs Athletics Prediction

Our prediction for this Cardinals vs. Athletics matchup is to go with the Athletics on the money line, with the payout currently sitting at +128. Our predicted final score is 5-4 in favor of the Athletics. Looking at the starting pitchers, we have Lance Lynn finishing with five strikeouts, which is good for fifth among all starters today.

As for JP Sears, he is projected to finish with four strikeouts, and we have him finishing with a higher strikeout total than Lynn. However, we still have Sears’ finishing with a higher earned run average than Lynn, with Sears finishing with a 6.75 ERA compared to Lynn at 3.95.

All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!

* All odds are provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.Action247 does not warrant the accuracy of completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these post.