Cardinals vs Dodgers Series Preview: Pujols Looking for 700

Cardinals vs Dodgers Series Preview: MLB Divisional standings show the Dodgers winning another crown while the Cardinals’ magic number is at five. A strong finish going into the playoffs is what both teams are looking and hoping for.

Game Information

• Game: St. Louis Cardinals (88-63) at Los Angeles Dodgers (104-46)
• Location: Dodgers Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
• Day/Time: Friday, 10:10 pm ET/7:10 pm PT
• Television: Apple, SNLA

Pujols Makes Return to Los Angeles; Two Away From 700

Of Albert Pujols’ 698 homers, 12 of them were in a Dodger uniform. Tonight the first ballot Hall of Famer makes his return to Chavez Ravine which will surely be another game where the road team shows their affection and respect. In his career against the Dodgers, Pujols has 20 homers and a .294 batting average in 109 games vs the Boys in Blue.

Jose Quintana will attempt to continue his string of quality appearances since joining the Cardinals after a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Columbian left-hander is 2-1 with a 2.44 ERA in nine games with the Cards. In his career against Los Angeles, Quintana is 2-1 with a 2.02 ERA in 11 appearances (8 starts. It’s going to be another profitable season for Red Bird bettors with 572 units won.

It could be their fifth straight year turning a profit (388-306, 3748 units since 2018). Only the Tampa Bay Rays (+5303) and the Seattle Mariners (+4599) have been better in that span. Since 2016 when St. Louis is getting +150 or more they’re just 25-34, but that’s good enough to return a profit of 867 units. The winnings are impressive but when we’re talking about a single game, it’s the win, loss record that should be the focus in the MLB divisional standings.

Dodgers Looked Disinterested Against D’Backs, Refocus Against Cards

The Dodgers squeaked out a late ninth inning win against Arizona last night, 3-2, to take three of the five-game series. Dodger bettors can tell you that it wasn’t easy cashing tickets against a team they normally have very little issue covering run-line wagers against.

Tonight, they’ll face a potential postseason foe, which should get Dave Robert’s team zeroed in on sending an early postseason message. It’s always difficult when doing a Dodgers preview to not automatically assume you’re betting the Boys of Summer.

Los Angeles has turned a 777 unit profit in 2022 despite having to overcome high money lines on most nights. Of their 150 games, Los Angeles has been a favorite of -150 or more 123 times. They are 88-35, +678 units in those games.

Some handicappers will tell you about the six runs in their last three games against Arizona, but we’ve seen this before when a team struggles against an inferior opponent, only to come back and dominate a perceived greater threat. That is the case here. Andrew Heaney, a former teammate of Pujols with the Los Angeles Angels, gets the start for the Dodgers.

Public Pounding Dodgers and Over

The numbers-complete, betting story came out a little later than normal in this match-up. When they did, they were clear that the Dodgers’ inability to score runs against the snakes made very little difference to either professional or public bettors.

The money line has risen a dime from a consensus of -170 to -177 with 73% of the money coming in on “dem bums”. The betting pattern on the totals shows an interesting dynamic with the money line on the total bet down from 8.5 to 8.5 (-115) under. Small wagers show an early percentage of bets being made on the over but professional money is dwarfing those wagers, causing the money line to move.

To conclude our Cardinals, Dodgers preview our official recommendation is to bet on Los Angeles Dodgers (-182). Normally we would look at the run-line but there aren’t any clear statistical trends that made us feel comfortable. It’s late enough in the year that you should have enough money to make a play on a bigger favorite.