The Boston Red Sox (22-24) travel to face off against the St. Louis Cardinals (20-25) on Sunday, May 19th. 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 1:05 ET.
Red Sox vs Cardinals
It was all St. Louis in the last game of this series, as the Cardinals took down the Red Sox by a score of 7-2. The Cardinals offense only had one more hit than the Red Sox and struck out seven times, but still picked up a convincing win. Heading into the game, they were at +101 on the money line.
This game featured a starting pitching matchup between Kutter Crawford for the Red Sox and Miles Mikolas for the Cardinals. Crawford went just 5 2/3 innings while giving up six hits and one earned run. Mikolas also only went five innings but gave up just two hits and one earned run.
St. Louis got a huge performance from Rafael Devers, as he went 1/4 with a home run and five RBIs. Both Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbaar each drove in two for the Cardinals’ offense.
Boston is on the road today, looking to pick up a win vs. the Cardinals, as they have dropped four straight games overall. The Red Sox are 4th in the AL East, trailing the Yankees by 9.5 games. So far, they have really struggled vs. other AL East teams, going just 1-6 this year.
At home, the Red Sox are 10-13 this year and 12-11 on the road. As the road favorite, the Red Sox are 5-1 this year and 12-9 overall as the favorite. Boston’s overall series record is 7-6-1 this year, and they are 3-7 in their last 10 games overall.
The Red Sox have been a profitable run line team on the road this season, going 13-10. They have a scoring margin of +1.3 runs per game on the road, which is better than their overall scoring margin of +0.4 runs per game. They have been a better bet on the run line as an underdog, going 14-11, compared to just 6-15 as a favorite.
Today’s over/under line of 8.5 runs for the Red Sox-Cardinals game is right in line with the average combined run average for Red Sox games this season. The Red Sox have gone over the total in three straight games, and their over/under record for the season is 17-25.
Nick Pivetta Gets The Start For The Red Sox
Nick Pivetta and the Red Sox are on the road to take on the Cardinals. He has started 3 games this season, going 1-1 with a no-decision. In his last outing, he went 5 2/3 innings and struck out 8, but he did give up 4 hits and 2 homers.
Red Sox Offense Breakdown
Heading into today’s game, the Red Sox offense is averaging 4.3 runs per game, which is 17th in the league. They have been a better team on the road this season, averaging 4.5 runs per contest. As a team, they are batting .243, which is 11th in the league, and are near the top of the league in both slugging and isolated power. Boston has been striking out a lot this season, averaging 9 per game.
Rafael Devers has been swinging a hot bat of late, going 10/34 in his last eight games with four homers and seven RBIs. Devers is 2nd on the team in RBIs and has gone deep eight times this season while batting .284. Ceddanne Rafaela has driven in the most runs for the Red Sox this season, but he is hitting just .197.
St. Louis is hosting the Red Sox today with an overall record of 20-25, and they are 7.0 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central. So far, they have really struggled against other NL Central teams, going 1-6 this year. The Cardinals have won two straight games, and this came after dropping five in a row.
So far, the Cardinals have been much better on the road compared to at home. At Busch Stadium, they are just 8-11 this year. As the underdog, the Cardinals are 9-12 this year and 11-13 as the favorite. St. Louis has an overall series record of 6-8 and have dropped two straight series at home.
St. Louis has been a solid bet on the run line at home, going 10-9, and they have covered the run line in two straight games. They have been a better bet on the run line as the underdog, going 13-8, compared to 9-15 as the favorite. The Cardinals have an average run margin of -0.9 on the season, and that number is slightly worse at home, where they are 10-9 vs. the run line. They have been outscored by an average of 0.8 runs per game at home and 1.0 runs per game on the road.
The St. Louis Cardinals have been on a five-game over streak, and their games have had an average of 8.6 runs scored this season. Their over/under record is 21-23, and their games have had an average over/under line of 8 runs. When the over/under line has been set at 8.5 runs, their record is 12-6, and 13.3% of their games have had higher lines.
Matthew Liberatore Gets The Start For The Cardinals
Through 15 appearances, Matthew Liberatore has made two starts and has a record of 1-1 with an ERA of 4.56. He most recently started on May 13th against the Angels, where he went 3 1/3 innings, giving up four earned runs, five hits, and two home runs. Liberatore finished with a no-decision in that outing. In each of his last three appearances, he has finished with a no-decision. Opponents are batting .244 off the left-hander this season, and his WHIP is 1.31. So far, he has allowed a total of three home runs.
Cardinals Offense Breakdown
For the season, the Cardinals are averaging just 3.8 runs per game, which is 25th in the MLB. Their team batting average is just 16th in the league at .233, and they are also near the bottom of the league in terms of isolated power. However, they do come into the game with a few hitters who have been swinging the bat well of late, as Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Gorman, Alec Burleson, and Iván Herrera have all hit over .278 in their last seven or eight games.
So far this season, Nolan Arenado is hitting .275 with three homers, and his 22 RBIs are the most on the team. Willson Contreras has also been a solid power threat for the Cardinals, as his six homers are 2nd on the team and 9th in the league.
Red Sox vs Cardinals Prediction
Our pick for today’s Red Sox and Cardinals matchup is to take the Red Sox on the money line, with the payout being -115. We have the Red Sox winning this one by a score of 5-4.
Looking at today’s starting pitchers, we have Nick Pivetta finishing with five strikeouts, and he has a good chance of picking up the win. As for Matthew Liberatore, we have him finishing with just four strikeouts and finishing with the third most earned runs among starters.
Offensively, the Red Sox lineup is projected to finish with nine hits, while the Cardinals are projected to finish with nine. However, the Cardinals are projected to have the fewest home runs among all teams in action today.
All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!
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Last updated:May 19, 2024 Cardinals, Red Sox