St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants National League Championship Series Game 5 – October 16, 2014 – Betting Preview and Prediction

The San Francisco Giants inched one step closer to the World Series after a thrilling 6-4 victory Wednesday in Game 4 of the National League Series Championship over the St. Louis Cardinals. With Adam Wainwright on the mound later, can the Cards prevent San Francisco from celebrating in its home turf, or will the Giants, who’ll counter with Madison Bumgarner, seal the series and punch their tickets to the Fall Classic?

Meanwhile, Week 7 of the NFL starts today with a matchup between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots. You can read a complete preview of that game here.
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St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants Betting Preview

Series Schedule & Results

Game 1 – Saturday, October 11, San Francisco Giants 3 at St. Louis Cardinals 0

Game 2 – Sunday, October 12, San Francisco Giants 4 at St. Louis Cardinals 5

Game 3 – Tuesday, October 14, St. Louis Cardinals 4 at San Francisco Giants 5

Game 4 – Wednesday, October 15, St. Louis Cardinals 4 at San Francisco Giants 6

Game 5 – Thursday, October 16, St. Louis Cardinals (+120) at San Francisco Giants (-130); total: 6.0 — view all MLB lines

Game 6* — Saturday, October 18, San Francisco Giants at St. Louis Cardinals

Game 7* — Sunday, October 19, San Francisco Giants at St. Louis Cardinals

*if necessary

Betting on the St. Louis Cardinals

[sc:MLB240banner ]Adam Wainwright, who has a 0-1 record in two starts this postseason to go along with an 8.00 ERA, is set to start tonight with a tremendous pressure to hold off San Francisco’s offense that has been quite a challenge for the Cards’ rotation since the start of this series. St. Louis is 6-1 in Wainwright’s last seven starts overall.

Wainwright was among those victimized by the Giants’ lineup when he gave up all of the runs scored by San Francisco in St. Louis’ 3-0 loss in Game 1. Wainwright’s elbow, though, was partly to blame for his lackluster performance in that outing. Regardless, he’ll toe the slab later with questions still swirling around that hurting elbow. Cards bench boss Mike Matheny, however, has full confidence with his ace saying that there’s “nobody else (they’d) rather have on the mound” than Wainwright. “Everybody’s got to follow suit and jump in and figure out a way to make it happen,” added Matheny.

One way to make things happen is to do well at the plate. The Cards are batting .242 in this series with 12 RBIs and six homers, the most among teams that have reached the LCS. Kolten Wong has been the spark plug in St. Louis lineup. He knocked his second homer of the series and third overall since the start of the postseason last night. Wong is hitting 5-for-14 with a team-leading four RBIs, two doubles, and a triple, too, in the current series. Moreover, his 1.471 OPS is the highest among all players that made it to the LCS.

Another guy who the Cards can count on is Jon Jay, who is 5-for-11 (.455) with three doubles thus far in his career against Madison Bumgarner.

Betting on the San Francisco Giants

Madison Bumgarner is going to start tonight, which means the Giants have a chance to end the series the same way they started it: with a win from the lefty strikeout machine. The Giants are 8-2 in MadBum’s last 10 starts at AT&T Park.

Bumgarner, who has fanned 23 batters – the most by anyone thus far in October – was a riddle for the Cards in Game 1, as he threw seven-plus scoreless innings and gave up just four hits with seven strikeouts to lead San Francisco to a series-opening victory. Bumgarner has a 2-1 record this October and a 0.76 ERA. Furthermore, his 0.72 WHIP is the fourth-best among starters that has logged in at least seven innings in this postseason. The three ahead of him in this category, however, have pitched for only 22.2 innings combined, short of Bumgarner’s 23.2 IP.

The Giants’ bullpen, meanwhile, has apparently recovered from the mess it created in Game 3 when they gave up three earned runs (all homers) that allowed St. Louis to fashion out a come-from-behind victory via Wong’s walk-off homer special. In the two games that followed, the Giants’ relievers have given up no earned runs in six total innings of shared duty between six pitchers.

Pablo Sandoval paces the Giants with a .375 batting average, going 6-for-16 thus far in the LCS. He has six hits in 18 at bats against Wainwright in his career. Buster Posey, who leads the team with a .333 BA thus far this October, however, is just 2-for-11 (.182) opposite the Cards ace. Travis Ishikawa and Hunter Pence, on the other hand, have seven RBIs together after having none in the LDS.

Writer’s Prediction

San Francisco (-130) joins the Kansas City Royals in the Fall Classic with a 5-3 win over the Cardinals. Create a betting account now and bet on this game while the odds are still available.
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