The Boston Red Sox (22-23) travel to face off against the St. Louis Cardinals (19-25) on Saturday, May 18th. This game will be played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis and televised on BSMW. The Cardinals are coming off a win in their previous game, while the Red Sox are looking to get back on track from a loss to the Cardinals. First pitch is set for 7:15 ET.
Red Sox vs Cardinals
Even though the Cardinals were the slight underdogs on the road, they still picked up a win over the Red Sox in the most recent game of this series. St. Louis had a huge 1st inning, scoring two of their four runs. As for the Red Sox, they scored their first run in the 2nd and added their final two runs in the 7th.
Kyle Gibson got the win for the Cardinals, going six innings and giving up five earned runs. He finished the game with just three strikeouts and allowed one home run. Brayan Bello had a rough outing for the Red Sox, taking the loss after going just 4 2/3 innings and giving up five earned runs.
Rafael Devers hit the game’s only home run while going 1/5 with two RBIs, but it came in a losing effort. Alec Burleson did a bit of everything for the Cardinals, going 2/5 with a home run and two RBIs.
Boston is on the road today vs. the Cardinals, and they are looking to snap a three-game losing streak, and they are 22-23 overall this season. The Red Sox are 8.5 games behind the Yankees in the AL East and are 1-6 in divisional games this year.
So far, the Red Sox have been good as the road favorite, going 5-0, and they are 12-8 overall as the favorite. As the underdog, the Red Sox are 10-15 this year. Boston has dropped three straight on the road, and they are 10-13 at home.
The Red Sox have been a solid run line bet on the road this season, going 13-9 against the run line. They have a positive run differential of 1.5 runs per game away from Fenway Park. Boston has been a better run line bet as the underdog, going 14-11, compared to 6-14 as the favorite. The Red Sox have a run line losing streak of three games on the road.
Today’s over/under line of 8 runs for the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals game is right in line with the average over/under line for the Red Sox this season. Their games have averaged 8.1 runs per game, and their over/under record is 16-25. When the line has been set at 8 runs, they have gone over in 2 games, under in 4 games, and pushed in 2 games.
Kutter Crawford Gets The Start For The Red Sox
Right-hander Kutter Crawford is getting the start for the Red Sox today as he faces the Cardinals on the road. He has made nine starts this season and has a record of 2-2 with an ERA of 2.24. Crawford’s WHIP for the season is currently 1.11. In his 52 1/3 innings of work, he has turned in five quality starts and is averaging 8.94 strikeouts per nine innings. Crawford most recently faced the Rays, where he took the loss, giving up four earned runs in six innings of work. Before that, he had won two straight starts.
Red Sox Offense Breakdown
Heading into today’s game, the Red Sox are averaging 4.3 runs per game, which is 16th in the league. They have been a little better on the road, averaging 4.6 runs per game. As a team, they are batting a collective .244, which is 10th in the league, and are 9th in home runs. One area of concern is that they are 27th in the league in strikeouts.
Rafael Devers and Tyler O’Neill have been the Red Sox’s top power threats this season, with Devers having seven homers and O’Neill at 10. Devers is also batting .285 for the season, and O’Neill is at .254. Devers is also currently on a seven-game hitting streak. Jarren Duran has also been swinging a hot bat of late, going 12/38 over his last 10 games.
St. Louis is hosting the Red Sox today with an overall record of 19-25, and they are 4th in the NL Central. The Cardinals trail the Brewers by seven games in the division and have really struggled against other NL Central teams, going 1-6 so far. They have also dropped two straight series at home.
So far, the Cardinals have gone just 7-11 at home compared to 12-14 on the road. As for their overall record, they are 11-13 as the favorite and 8-12 as the underdog. St. Louis’ overall record as the favorite is 6-8 this year.
When betting the run line with the Cardinals, it’s best to take them as the underdog. St. Louis is 12-8 against the run line in those games, compared to just 9-15 as the favorite. The Cardinals are 21-23 overall vs. the run line, with an average scoring margin of -1.0 runs per game. Their average run differential in wins is +2.5, but it drops to -3.8 in losses.
St. Louis has gone over the total in four straight games and in five of their last six. Their games have averaged 8.5 runs per game this season, and their over/under record is 20-23. When the line is set at 8 runs, they are 2-4-1 in those games. For the season, 23 of their 43 games have had an over/under line set at 8 or higher, and they have gone over the total in 10 of those games.
Miles Mikolas Gets The Start For The Cardinals
Miles Mikolas will be looking to build off his last outing, where he faced the Brewers and picked up the win. In that May 12th outing, he went six innings and gave up three earned runs on six hits. Looking back over his last four outings, Mikolas has given up three earned runs in three of them. His ERA for the season is 6.19, and he has a record of 3-5. Opposing batters are hitting .313 off Mikolas this season. So far, he has made four quality starts and is averaging 6.56 strikeouts per nine innings.
Cardinals Offense Breakdown
St. Louis comes into today’s game with the 26th ranked scoring offense in the league, averaging just 3.8 runs per game. This is the same number of runs they are averaging at home and on the road. As a team, the Cardinals are batting .229, which is 18th in the league, and they are also near the bottom of the league in slugging percentage and OPS.
Over the past 10 games, Alec Burleson has been on a tear, going 13/34 with three homers and seven RBIs. Overall, he is batting .286 with five homers. Willson Contreras and Nolan Gorman are also tied for the team lead with six homers. Gorman is batting just .193 for the season, but he has gone deep six times.
Red Sox vs Cardinals Prediction
With the Red Sox at -120 on the money line, this is where we see the best value in this Red Sox vs. Cardinals matchup. Our predicted final score is 5-4 in favor of the Red Sox, giving us some wiggle room to also look at the over/under line, which is sitting at 8 runs.
If you’re looking for a starting pitcher to have a big day, we would recommend staying away from Kutter Crawford, as he is projected to finish with just four strikeouts. As for Miles Mikolas, he is also not a great option, as he is projected to finish with four K’s and give up the most earned runs of any starter today.
Looking at some team stats, the Red Sox are projected to finish with nine hits, compared to the Cardinals, who are projected to finish with eight. However, the Cardinals are projected to finish with the fewest runs of any team in action today.
All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!
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Last updated:May 18, 2024 Cardinals, Red Sox