Cardinals wear red, Dodgers wear blue, both underwhelming, that’s nothing new.
After evading a four game sweep in NorCal on Thursday afternoon, the Birds of St. Loo sojourn to SoCal for a three game slate starting tonight at Chavez Ravine.
First pitch is expected around 7:10 PM Pacific Time (10:10 PM Eastern).
#FridayNightBaseball is back. Watch the Dodgers take on the Cardinals tonight at 7pm PT only on @AppleTV. Subscription is required.
▪️ Free trial: https://t.co/pu43zYjkXQ
▪️ Watch: https://t.co/qfMX0M9nyD pic.twitter.com/slb3aU18Wj— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 28, 2023
Dodgers to Host Cardinals: Game Breakdown and Latest Odds
Interestingly enough, the club serving as host for this weekend’s festivities has seen its players spend less time in the Pacific Time Zone of late than the visitors.
That body clock correction may serve as just enough juice to fuel a St. Louis side starving to get out of the gate on proper footing.
Carrying a 9-8 lead into the top of the 9th inning before a packed house back on March 30th, the Busch Stadium boys got stunningly crushed like a Natty Light at a Mizzou kegger. The hangover has lasted nearly a month.
Since that 10-9 sucker punch on Opening Day against Canada’s Team—Toronto—the Cardinals have failed to take a series opening tilt in eight straight.
Could lucky number 9 recast the Cards’ fortunes as the final days of April fade?
Odds suggest that’s quite likely indeed.
Posted Betting Lines (listed as of article post time)
SERIES PRICING (3 GAMES, FRIDAY-SUNDAY)
St. Louis: +155 (to win the series)
— Pitching: G1 Flaherty, G2 Montgomery, G3 Woodford
LA: -175 (to win the series)
— Pitching: G1 May, G2 Kershaw, G3 Syndergaard
GAME 1, FRIDAY (7:10 PM PST)
St. Louis: +1.5 ATS (-165), +120 ML
LA: -1.5 ATS (+135), -145 ML
Total: O 8.5 (-120) / U 8.5 (+100)
GAME 2, SATURDAY (6:10 PM PST)
St. Louis: +1.5 ATS (-155), +130 ML
LA: -1.5 ATS (+125), -160 ML
Total: O 8 (-115) / U 8 (-105)
GAME 3, SUNDAY (1:10 PM PST)
St. Louis: TBA
LA: TBA
Total: TBA
Profit focused Picks for Cardinals vs Dodgers Game 1
In life, getting behind the proverbial eight ball is a high frequency loop. Betting, for most, is no different.
It’s much more likely that all will be lost—more than once—before a penny is put away, but that doesn’t mean present and future efforts to cobble coins together should be avoided.
Better to remain poised and confident that each day offers new challenges and beautiful opportunities.
With that mind, we aim to make some money betting the Dodgers/Cardinals series.
St. Louis to WIN Friday’s game (Moneyline, +120)
An up-and-down, end-of-April road swing for the boys in blue is in the rear view.
But will last night’s reunion with their California King beds calm any internal Dodgers’ conflict that recent results suggest could be brewing?
Expectations in Los Angeles have been perpetually high for nearly a decade, so any seeming swoon is apt to draw attention. With the first calendar month of the season coming to a close this weekend, early returns—kindly put—leave a lot to be desired.
A trek to the North Side of Chicago generated some traction with three favorable outcomes in four tussles with the Cubbies, but that pace was notably derailed when the Dodgers took their talents to PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Belied by a miraculous comeback win over the Buccos to start their three-game set, the perennial World Series hopefuls packed more fruit than punch as the week wore on.
Outscored 14-3 and outhit 20-9 in the last two legs of that series, Los Angeles batters appeared baffled, making 23 of 54 outs at home plate (a strikeout percentage of 42.6%). Perhaps April malaise caught the boys in blue looking ahead to sunnier skies but a flight back to California boasting a 13-13 record was not what the Dodger brass had in mind when they touched down in the Steel City.
Putting the aforementioned in perspective, it’s commonplace to evaluate every baseball game as a singular cage-match. However, nothing happens in a vacuum. These are games, played by humans, with earthly elements in play. Anything can and often will happen.
Minding that, certain situations present strategic points of inflection for bettors to try to capitalize on and for bet takers, in consideration, to adjust accordingly.
Which brings us to tonight’s main event:
In the Blue Corner, standing 6’6, weighing in at 180 pounds, with a career record of 10 wins and 9 losses, out of Justin, Texas—Dustin “Carrot Top” May!
In the Red Corner, standing 6’4, weighing in at 225 pounds, with a career record of 36 victories and 27 defeats, from just up the freeway in Burbank, California—Jack “Hollywood” Flaherty!
Come on kids, this is La La Land. Get with the program! Remember, professional sports isn’t just a business, it’s show business.
So grab your popcorn and settle in—or don’t—but consider this before making a wager on the Dodgers on Friday: Hollywood Flaherty has started 103 games in his 7-year major league career, all with St. Louis, while Carrot Top has taken the hill just 30 times through an injury-laden 5-year stretch with the Dodgers.
In 2023, both have started 5 games. Dusty checks in with a 3.07 ERA, a 2-1 record, a strike-to-walk ratio of nearly 2/1 (19 Ks, 10 BBs) with only 1 home run surrendered. Captain Jack likes to play with a lot more fire. His K/BB ratio is flatter at 26/19 and his danger-zone is wider, highlighted by the 3 dingers he’s served up.
All that said, expect some reversion tonight. Flaherty has seen his five starts result in an alternation of wins and losses. Off a win in Seattle, should that pattern hold, the Dodgers likely handle the Cali righty and the Cards tonight. On the flip side, The Dust Buster has sandwiched wins around two losses through four starts to date so as the saying goes, something’s gotta give.
This will mark Hollywood Jack’s fourth career start at Dodger Stadium. In those three prior visits, the Burbank native conceded just 7 hits across 18 innings, allowing 3 total runs, striking out 29 while yielding just 4 bases on balls.
You may say it’s crazy, but it will not surprise believers back in St. Louis when the Cardinals quiet the favored Dodgers tonight in Los Angeles.
So take the value where you can find it. In this game, it’s with the Red Birds.
Value Hunting: Los Angeles vs St. Louis
These plays are selected in light of their correlated expectation.
SPREAD: Alternate Run Line, St. Louis -1.5 +185
Money Line and Both Teams to Score 6 or More Runs:
Cardinals and No +145
Player Props:
Jack Flaherty and Dustin May to each record 5+ strikeouts +115
Jack Flaherty strikeouts Over 5.5 -105
