St. Louis Cardinals at San Francisco Giants Betting Preview/Prop Picks

A pair of 2021 MLB Playoff teams are set to meet up on Thursday night to begin an important four-game series in the National League. The San Francisco Giants host the St. Louis Cardinals, and both teams are playing well to begin 2022. 

St. Louis comes into this game having won three of their last four games, and those wins have improved their record to 14-10. The Cardinals sit in second place in the NL Central Division but have work to do to catch the Brewers.

San Francisco enters this series reeling a bit as they have lost three straight games, including two to the Dodgers. The Giants are sitting in fourth place in the NL West, but they have plenty of time to get back into the race. 

The St. Louis Cardinals are slight moneyline betting favorites on the road in San Francisco on Thursday night. 

Cardinals Have to Find Offense

The St. Louis Cardinals have gotten great production from Nolan Arenado this season, but the rest of the lineup has been scuffling a bit. Arenado leads the team with seven home runs and 23 RBIs, but he is going to need some help as the season moves along.

Starting pitching is another area that has been inconsistent for the Cardinals, but there is some talent in the rotation. Miles Mikolas will take the mound on Thursday night, and he is 1-1 with a 1.52 ERA to begin the season.

St. Louis does not have a team that looks great on paper, but this team just continues to win more games than they lose. 

Giants Getting Great Starting Pitching

The San Francisco Giants won the NL West Division a season ago on the back of great starting pitching, and they are using the same formula this season. San Francisco has a team ERA of 3.33, and they can put up some low numbers at home.

Logan Webb will make the start on Thursday night, and he is 3-1 with a 3.26 earned run average. Keeping the ball in the park will be a big key for Webb in this matchup against the Cardinals.

San Francisco has scored just two total runs in their last two games, but they are a team that can generate offense from up and down the lineup. 

Giants Win Series Opener

The pitching matchup on Thursday night looks to be a good one, but the Giants should have a slight edge at home. San Francisco has not been scoring runs well of late, but this should be an opportunity for them to break through.

St. Louis has a streaky offense, and playing on the road in San Francisco is not going to be kind to the hitters in that lineup. The Cardinals just have too many holes in the lineup, and those will be exploited by the Giants. 

This game and the entire series should be tight, but it will be the home team that takes control in the series opener. Bet the San Francisco Giants moneyline as they open up this important four-game series with a win over the San Francisco Giants.

Prop Pick

St. Louis (-130) UNDER 3.5 Runs

San Francisco is allowing 3.67 runs per game on defense, which ranks No. 8 in the league, while holding teams to 0.55 home runs per game, which ranks No. 1. Scores have gone UNDER in eight of San Francisco’s last 10 games after allowing more than 5 runs in the previous game (the Giants gave up 9 last night to the Dodgers).

With Dunkel predicting a San Francisco victory by the score of 3-2, take the Cardinals (-130) to finish UNDER their Vegas team total of 3.5 runs against the Giants.

Miles Mikolas (-155) UNDER 2.5 Earned Runs

Mikolas has given up 5 earned runs in 29.2 innings for an ERA of 1.52, which ranks No. 1 among Cardinal starters and No. 6 in MLB. His ERA drops to 0.77 on the road and 0.48 at night.

With Dunkel predicting the final score staying UNDER the Vegas total, take Mikolas (-155) to allow UNDER 2.5 earned runs against the Giants.

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