St. Louis Cardinals vs Houston Astros Betting Pick & Prediction 6/5/24
Wednesday’s interleague matchup between the Cardinals and Astros is set to get started at 2:10 PM ET from Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX. The Astros are the heavy favorite on the money line, with their odds sitting at -172, while the Cardinals are at +145. The over/under line is currently at 8.5 runs.
The Astros will be looking to extend their winning streak to three games, while the Cardinals are hoping to snap a two-game skid. St. Louis is 3rd in the NL Central, while the Astros are 3rd in the AL West. Miles Mikolas will start for the Cardinals, and he is facing off against Ronel Blanco.
HOUSTON ASTROS VS ST. LOUIS CARDINALS BETTING PICK
The Pick: Houston Astros Moneyline -172
This game will be played at Minute Maid Park at 2:10 ET on Wednesday, June 5th.
HOW TO BET THE CARDINALS VS ASTROS:
- We have the Astros winning by a score of 5 to 4
- However, if you’re looking for a run line pick, we like the Cardinals to cover
- As for an over/under pick, we have this game finishing with 9 runs and like the over
Thanks to a four-run 3rd inning for the Astros’ offense, they cruised to an easy 8-5 win over the Cardinals in the most recent game of this series. Heading into the game, the Astros were favored at -158 on the money line.
The starting pitching matchup for this game featured Spencer Arrighetti for the Astros, and he went just three innings while giving up one run and struck out four. Tayler Scott got the win out of the bullpen. Andre Pallante had a rough outing for the Cardinals, giving up six runs in three innings of work.
Houston’s top four hitters in the lineup, Yainer Diaz, Jeremy Pena, Yordan Alvarez, and Jose Altuve, each had two hits and combined for seven RBIs. Diaz and Pena both homered. Masyn Winn had a three-hit game for the Cardinals, including a home run.
Cardinals Records & Stats
St. Louis is 3rd in the NL Central, trailing the Brewers by seven games. Overall, the Cardinals are 28-31 and have dropped two straight games. Their two-game losing streak has come as the underdog, where they are 14-18 this season. As the favorite, the Cardinals are 14-13.
At home, the Cardinals are 13-12 this season, and they are just under .500 at 15-19 on the road. St. Louis’ overall series record is 10-9, and they are losing this series vs. the Astros 0-2.
St. Louis has been a good bet on the run line this season, going 28-31 overall, including 13-12 at home. However, the Cardinals have been struggling on the road, going 15-19 on the run line. They have failed to cover the run line in their last two road games and are just 10-17 on the run line as the favorite this season.
St. Louis is on the road against Houston, and the Over/Under line is set at 8.5 runs. The Cardinals’ games have averaged 8.6 runs per game this season, and their Over/Under record is 26-30. When the O/U line is set at 8.5, they have gone over 14 times and under 6 times. Overall, 22% of their games have had O/U lines set at 8.5 runs. The Over has hit in their last two games.
Right-hander Miles Mikolas is on the mound for the Cardinals today as he faces the Astros on the road. He has made 12 starts this season and has a record of 3-6 with an ERA of 5.54. Mikolas’ WHIP for the season is currently 1.32. The last time he pitched, Mikolas took the loss, going six innings and giving up three earned runs on five hits. He has allowed at least one home run in each of his last three outings. Mikolas has a total of 10 homers allowed this season. Looking back over his last 10 starts, Mikolas has given up multiple homers in four of them.
Coming into today’s game, the Cardinals are 26th in the league in runs scored, averaging just 3.9 runs per game. They have been slightly better at home, putting up 4.1 runs per game. As a team, the Cardinals are batting .234, which is 14th in the league, and their team on-base percentage of .308 is also 13th in the MLB. St. Louis has been a below-average home run hitting team this season.
Nolan Gorman has been on a tear for the Cardinals, going deep six times in his last seven games while hitting .357. For the season, he is batting just .235, but his 31 RBIs are the best mark on the team. Alec Burleson has also been a big power threat for the Cardinals, as he has eight homers this season, but he is just 4/31 in his last seven games.
Astros Records & Stats
The Astros have won two straight games and are 28-34 overall this season. In the AL West, they are seven games behind the Mariners for the division lead and trail the Rangers by 1.5 games for the second spot in the division standings. So far, they have gone 13-11 in divisional matchups.
At home, the Astros are 17-17 this season compared to an 11-17 mark on the road. As the favorite, the Astros are 22-27 this season and 6-7 as the underdog. Houston has an overall series record of 8-10-1 and has dropped two straight series.
When the Astros win, they win big, with an average run differential of +4.1 runs per game. However, when they lose, they lose by an average of -3.4 runs per game. Their overall run line record is 26-36, and they are 15-19 against the run line at home. When they are the favorite, they are 19-30 against the run line, but as the underdog, they are 7-6.
When the Astros play at home, the over/under line is set at 8.5 runs, and their games have averaged 8.9 runs per game this season. Their over/under record is 23-36 overall, and their games have had an average over/under line of 9 runs. When the line is set at 8.5 runs, their over/under record is 5-10. So far this season, 48.4% of their games have had over/under lines set higher than 8.5 runs, and 27.4% have had lower lines. Their current over streak is at 2 games.
Houston is sending Ronel Blanco to the mound today vs. the Cardinals, and he has made 10 starts this season. Blanco’s record is 5-1, and he has an ERA of 2.44. In his 10 starts, Blanco has one complete game shutout and six quality starts. His ERA for the season is 3.04 at home, compared to 2.13 on the road. Blanco’s last outing came at home, where he took the loss, going 4 2/3 innings and giving up four earned runs. Before that, he had won three straight starts. So far, he has been much better on the road, going 4-0 with a 2.13 ERA compared to 1-1 with a 3.04 ERA at home.
Currently, the Astros are the top hitting team in the league, batting .259 as a team. They also have the fewest strikeouts in the league and are near the top of the league in home runs and slugging percentage. Houston is averaging 4.4 runs per game, which is 10th in the league. At home, they have been even better, averaging 4.9 runs per game.
Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker have been two of the Astros’ top power threats this season, with Alvarez’s 12 homers ranking 2nd on the team and Tucker’s 19 homers leading the team and being the 9th most in the league. Over his last 10 games, Alvarez is hitting .385 with three homers, while Alex Bregman has also been hot, going 14/39 with five homers in this stretch.