New York Mets at St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview

The St. Louis Cardinals will host the New York Mets on Monday night to begin a series at Busch Stadium. Both teams are expected to be playoff contenders this season, and this should be a great series between National League teams.

New York comes into this series with a record of 11-11 to lead the National League East. The Mets just won two straight games over the Philadelphia Phillies and will stay on the road for this matchup.

St. Louis has now won four straight games after sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cardinals trail the Milwaukee Brewers by just one game in the NL Central with a record of 16-12.

The Cardinals are -125 in the series opener against the Mets. First pitch is at 7:45 P.M. Eastern.

Mets Still Need More Offense

New York scored 13 total runs in the last two games, but the Mets have not been a good offensive team to begin the year. The Mets have scored just 71 total runs, which is the lowest total in the Major Leagues.

First baseman Pete Alonso has been a force at the plate, leading the team with five home runs and 16 runs batted in. The Mets are still waiting for Francisco Lindor to get going to make this team more dangerous.

Pitching has carried the Mets so far in 2021, as the team has an ERA of just 3.11. New York has some question marks on who starts in this series, but this is a deep and talented pitching staff. 

Cardinals Ned Some Pitching

The Cardinals are expected to active Adam Wainwright off of the COVID-19 list to make the start on Monday night. The veteran has gone 0-3 with a 4.08 earned run average to begin the year, so St. Louis needs him to figure things out.

The Redbirds have struggled to hit for average for much of the season, but there is plenty of thunder in that lineup. The Cardinals have scored 132 runs on the year and just scored 22 total runs in their three-game series sweep.

Paul DeJong has hit six home runs to lead the way, and newcomer Nolan Arenado has driven in a team-high 18 runs on the year. St. Louis still has some players floundering a bit, but the Cardinals are expected to become a great offensive team. 

New York Stays Hot With Win

Both teams come into this series with plenty of momentum, but the Mets have picked up the more impressive wins. St. Louis was able to sweep the Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend, but the competition now gets much more challenging.

New York has not yet named a starting pitcher for the matchup on Monday night, but this offense is starting to heat up. St. Louis is turning to Adam Wainwright, and he just hasn’t been able to get things going yet in 2021.

Don’t expect a ton of offense in this one, but expect the Mets to do the most damage. Take the New York Mets over the St. Louis Cardinals in the series opener. 

DUNKEL INDEX PICK: New York Mets (+108).

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