BSMW is carrying Sunday's TV coverage of the Cardinals and Giants matchup, with the game starting at 3:05 PM ET from Oracle Park in San Francisco, CA. The Giants are favored on the money line (-122), while the Cardinals have a line of +104. The over/under line is sitting at 8 runs.
Michael McGreevy is starting for the Cardinals, and he will be facing off against Hayden Birdsong. The Cardinals are 3rd in the NL Central, while the Giants are 4th in the NL West. Overall, the Cardinals have an 82-79 record, while the Giants are 80-81.
St. Louis vs. San Francisco Matchup At A Glance
- Teams: Cardinals at Giants
- Where: Oracle Park San Francisco
- Date: Sunday, September 29th
- Betting Odds SF -122 | STL +104 O/U 8
Cardinals vs Giants Last Game Recap
San Francisco picked up a 6-5 win over the Cardinals in the most recent game of this series. The Giants had a two-run lead going into the 7th inning, and the Cardinals made a late rally with three runs in the 7th and another two in the 8th. As for the Giants, they scored the game's first two runs in the 1st and added their final two in the 6th.
Tristan Beck got the start for the Giants, going just four innings while giving up one run and striking out three. Ryan Walker got the win out of the bullpen, and Spencer Bivens got the save. Matthew Liberatore had a rough outing for the Cardinals, taking the loss.
At the plate, the Giants were led by Matt Chapman and Patrick Bailey, who each had two hits and two RBIs. Paul Goldschmidt went 3/4 with two RBIs for the Cardinals.
Cardinals Preview
St. Louis is looking to close the season strong and is currently one game behind the Cubs for the 2nd spot in the NL Central. They have an overall series record of 27-20-5 and have won three straight series. Against the run line as underdogs, the Cardinals are 55-28 this season.
The over/under line for today's game is set at 8 runs, and the Cardinals' over/under record this season is 75-82. The average run total in their games is 8.6, and their over streak is at 3 games.
Michael McGreevy will be making his 4th start of the season, and he is coming off a 5-inning outing where he took a no-decision against the Rockies. McGreevy has picked up a win in each of his first two starts, and in his last outing, he struck out 5 and gave up 1 home run.
Heading into today's game, the Cardinals are 23rd in the league in scoring, averaging 4.1 runs per game. This is the same number of runs they are averaging on the road. As a team, they are batting .247, which is 9th in the league, and have the 17th fewest strikeouts in the league. St. Louis has been pretty average in terms of their on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
Paul Goldschmidt and Alec Burleson have been the Cardinals' top power threats this season, with Goldschmidt leading the team with 22 homers and Burleson right behind him at 21. Goldschmidt is 3rd on the team in RBIs (64), while Burleson is the team leader in RBIs, with 75. Over his last five games, Ivan Herrera has gone 8/17 with two homers and four RBIs.
Giants Preview
San Francisco has a 80-81 overall record and is 4th in the NL West, 17 games behind the Dodgers. They have a 26-26 divisional record and have won three straight series coming into today's game against the Cardinals.
As favorites, the Giants are 47-33 straight up and 48-33 against the run line. Their games have had an average of 8 runs this season, and the over has hit in four straight games. Heading into today, the Giants are 7-3 in their last ten games.
Giants starter Hayden Birdsong will be looking to build off his last outing, where he picked up the win vs. the Diamondbacks. In that outing, he went 5 innings and gave up 2 earned runs. Looking at his overall numbers, Birdsong has made 15 starts and has a record of 5-5. His ERA for the season is 4.66, along with a WHIP of 1.37. Opposing batters are hitting .208 off the right-hander this season. Birdsong has only made one quality start this year and is averaging 10.24 strikeouts per nine innings. For the season, he has allowed 10 homers and is averaging 5.32 walks per nine innings.
Over the past seven games, Matt Chapman has gone 7/27 with three homers for the Giants. For the season, he is batting .247 and leads the team with 78 RBIs. Heliot Ramos has also been swinging a hot bat of late, going 11/35 over his last eight games with one home run.
As a team, the Giants are averaging 4.3 runs per game, which is 17th in the league. They have been a little better on the road, averaging 4.4 runs per contest. Overall, they are batting .239, which is 14th in the league, and are 15th in home runs. San Francisco comes into the game with a team OPS of .703.
Cardinals vs. Giants Prediction: Giants ML -122
Our predicted score for this one is 6-5 in favor of the Giants, and with them at -122 on the money line, that is the way we recommend playing this one.
Looking at the starting pitchers, we have Hayden Birdsong finishing with six strikeouts, and he is projected to finish 16th among starters in terms of Ks. As for Michael McGreevy, he is projected to finish with seven, which has him at seventh among starters.
