MLB Playoffs: Game 5 of the NLCS on Thursday night has the St. Louis Cardinals visiting the San Francisco Giants. This game that can be seen on FS1 has a start time of 8:07 p.m. ET. The Cardinals are expected to go with Adam Wainwright while the Giants are going to go with Madison Bumgarner. Let’s look at the matchup and MLB Playoffs picks.
Adam Wainwright
The Cardinals ace believes he has fixed a mechanical issue in his delivery that will solve his recent woes. He has thrown just nine innings in his two playoff starts this season but he needed 200 pitches to get through them. Wainwright also believes that he can handle pitching in the wind at AT&T Park in San Francisco. “One great defense against all that is keeping the ball on the ground,” Wainwright said. “You’ve never seen the wind push a ground ball through the hole or out of the park.” Wainwright has a 3-4 record at the Giants park with a 3.18 ERA. “I like pitching here,” he said. “I think every pitcher likes pitching here. I do think there’s an advantage in playing in this park all the time like the Giants do. They know the wind and they know the bounces.” Wainwright is 5-5 in the last ten years against the Giants with a 3.11 ERA.
Game Notes
The Giants have won seven of the last 10 at home against the Cardinals after Wednesday’s Game 4. The last three have gone over the total. The Cardinals are 10-2 in their last 12 games vs. a left-handed starter. The Cardinals are 4-10 in their last 14 playoff road games. The Cardinals are 54-25 in Wainwright’s last 79 starts. The Giants are 7-1 in their last 8 playoff home games. The Giants are 8-2 in Bumgarner’s last 10 starts.
The Over is 9-2 in the Cardinals last 11 League Championship road games. The Over is 4-1 in Wainwright’s last 5 road starts. The Over is 12-3 in the Giants last 15 playoff home games. The Over is 10-4 in Bumgarner’s last 14 home starts. The Over is 4-1 in Bumgarner’s last five starts vs. the Cardinals.
MLB Playoff Picks
We’ll go with the recent trends and take this game over the total.
