Baseball Betting: The first place Milwaukee Brewers play host to the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday in the opener of a three-game series. The Cardinals are battling with the Pirates for second place behind the Brewers in the NL Central. The Cardinals are just .500 on the road this season while the Brewers have been very good at home so this could be a tough series for St. Louis. Let’s look at this matchup on Friday and free baseball picks.
Cardinals Offense Continues to Struggle
When was the last time a St. Louis Cardinals team was last in the league in hitting? This year’s team is not far from that dubious honor. The team is 29th in runs scored, averaging just 3.6 runs per game. They probably won’t finish last in the league, only because the San Diego Padres are even more pathetic in runs scored. The Cardinals will probably have to make a trade before the trading deadline to improve their offense and they may also need to add a pitcher. Friday’s starter could be Marco Gonzales and he has not pitched well since getting his call up from Triple A.
Milwaukee Brewers Still Hanging On
The Milwaukee Brewers have been one of the biggest surprises this season and they are still hanging on to first place in the NL Central. The Brewers have been in the top ten in hitting and in team ERA so it is not a fluke that they are in first place. The question now becomes how active will they be before the trading deadline? The team could still use another starting pitcher and a hitter to give them some depth. The Brewers are averaging 4.4 runs per game while allowing 3.6 per contest.
Game Notes
The Brewers should be going with Yovani Gallardo on Friday. He has not been the ace of the staff this season but the Brewers will still have a big pitching edge if the matchup is Gallardo against Gonzalez. The teams have split their last ten meetings overall but it has been a road team series as the Cardinals have taken 7 of the last 10 at Milwaukee.
Free Baseball Picks
We’ll look for the Brewers to take Game 1 of this series on Friday night.
