St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants Predictions, Picks and MLB Preview – September 18, 2016

St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants Betting Preview

Where: AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA

When: Sunday, September 18, 2016, 1:05 PM ET

Line: St. Louis Cardinals (-105) at San Francisco Giants (-105); total: 8.0 – view all MLB lines

TV Broadcast: FS-M, CSBA

Writer’s Pick: San Francisco Giants

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Betting on the St. Louis Cardinals (-105)

The St. Louis Cardinals (77-71) couldn’t afford to lose their third-straight contest, so the 3-2 late-rally victory on Saturday at Sam Francisco was a huge one to say the least. With that win, the Cardinals keep pace with the Giants and the New York Mets at two games behind one of the two available NL Wild Card slots.

St. Louis scored two clutch runs in the ninth inning of Saturday’s game, proving that this playoff-tested team cannot be easily written off from the postseason race just yet. A 10-minute team meeting prior to the contest has seemed to have gotten the Cards’ spirits up indeed, as Randal Grichuk knocked-in the timely go-ahead run in the top of the ninth and with closer Seung Hwan Oh picking up the win after holding the Giants scoreless in the final two frames.

Oh, who’s dubbed as “The Final Boss” back in his home country of South Korea, has proven to be a terrific signing by St. Louis. The Cards have won the last four contests that the righty has wrapped up, allowing just one run (on a solo homer) while striking out six batters across six innings.

Stellar pitching is just what the Cards need, and they might also need Oh to deliver late once more since Alex Reyes (2-1, 1.29 ERA) will take to the mound for the four-game series finale. Although Reyes pitched 4.1 scoreless innings in his last appearance in relief of the now-injured Jaime Garcia, Sunday’s contest will only be the rookie’s third-career start in the majors. In his first two starts, Reyes allowed a combined three runs in 10.2 innings of work.

Betting on the San Francisco Giants (-105)

Just when we thought that the San Francisco Giants (79-69) were in for a timely winning streak, the Cards deflated all their momentum during Saturday’s heartbreaking loss. The Giants currently still have the worst record in the majors after the All-Star break at 22-36, setting the template for a massive midseason collapse for what should’ve been a season filled with even-year magic.

Nevertheless, San Francisco’s bats have finally come to life of late to stay relatively ahead of the wild card race. Hunter Pence, who’s been battling with injuries for most of the year, has an 11-game hit streak going for him, while former NL MVP Buster Posey has nine hits and four RBIs over the last five contests.

However, relief pitching is now a big issue for the Giants, with closer Santiago Casilla blowing his ninth save of the season and his third in the month of September during Saturday’s loss. That leaves a ton of pressure to the team’s starters, and that’s not a good sign for Sunday’s starter, Albert Suarez (3-3, 4.20 ERA).

Like St. Louis’ Reyes, Suarez is still in his maiden season in the big leagues. The rookie out of Venezuela has gotten plenty of love at AT&T Park, though, as he has a 2-1 record with a 3.12 ERA in 11 home games (four starts) compared to his 5.13 ERA in nine-career road appearances.

In Sunday’s battle between two young starting pitchers, San Francisco has the slight edge in experience with Suarez on the mound. Run support should be key in this upcoming matchup, and considering that the Giants put up 14 combined runs in the two games against the Cards prior to Saturday’s loss, the boys from the Bay Area can get right back on track for as long as they put up points on the board early on.

Writer’s Prediction

The Giants (-105) escape with a tense 4-3 victory.

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