MLB odds: How to bet Cardinals vs. Dodgers, point spread, more
The National League wild card playoff game has a matchup between the hottest team at the end of the regular season vs. a squad that was one of the best in baseball over the course of the year.
The Los Angeles Dodgers (106-56) play host to the St. Louis Cardinals (90-72) at 8 p.m. ET (TBS). The winner advances to face the San Francisco Giants in the NL Division Series.
The Dodgers won the season series against the Cardinals 4-3, and had the best home record in MLB this season (58-23).
Los Angeles, as expected, had a clear edge in-season statistics. The Dodgers averaged 5.12 runs per game, compared to 4.36 for the Cardinals, and allowed an average of 3.46 runs per game and St. Louis allowed an average of .415.
The Dodgers were the highest-scoring club in the NL with 830 runs (St. Louis was 10th with 706). The Dodgers comfortably led the NL in RBIs (799, with St. Louis 10th at 686)
Yet the Cardinals and Dodgers finished with the same team batting average (.244, tied for fifth in the NL along with Atlanta).
Both clubs were hot at the end of the season. The Cardinals won 19 of their last 22 regular-season games and the Dodgers won 18 of their last 21.
The Cardinals were all-but-forgotten in the playoff race heading into September until winning a franchise-record 17 games in a row, the second-longest streak after Sept. 1 in MLB history behind the 1935 Cubs, who won 21 straight.
The Dodgers led the majors in ERA (3.01, 0.23 ahead of runner-up San Francisco) and did it with a pitcher-by-committee approach, finishing with one complete game (the Phillies led MLB with five, followed by the White Sox with four). Los Angeles tied with the Giants for the MLB lead in saves (56).
The Cardinals finished 12th in MLB in ERA (3.98) and fourth in saves (50) and were tied for third in complete games with three.
One pitching area the Cardinals fared better than the Dodgers this season was home runs allowed. St. Louis allowed 152, one behind the Giants. Los Angeles was third with 161 allowed.
One pitching area St. Louis was poor in this season was walks allowed, finishing second-to-last with 608, nine fewer than Cincinnati.
Perhaps the most telling statistical difference between the teams? The Dodgers were second in the majors in shutouts (17, two behind Milwaukee) and the Cardinals were tied for 27th with the Mets with one.
One edge the Cardinals have in experience is with their starting pitcher.
The Cardinals will turn to 40-year-old right-hander Adam Wainwright (17-7, 3.05 ERA), who will be making his 16th postseason start.
Wainwright had 22 quality starts (pitches at least six innings and allows three earned runs or fewer) this season, fourth-most in MLB.
"St. Louis (+2200 at FOX Bet) is by a big distance our worst current liability," FOX Bet Trading Operations Manager Ben Conroy said. "They were considered out of contention by the betting markets but the customers believed in them and they won 17 straight games to get here - a Cinderella story in the making."
The Dodgers are expected to start Max Scherzer, who was 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA this season.
Scherzer, a three-time NL Cy Young winner with Washington, was traded by the Nationals to the Dodgers along with infielder Trea Turner, who led the majors with a .328 batting average and led the NL in stolen bases (32) and total bases (319).
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So where should you be looking to place your bets? For that, we turn to Ben Verlander, with odds courtesy of FOX Bet.
St. Louis Cardinals @ Los Angeles Dodgers (8:10 p.m. ET Wednesday, TBS)
Point spread: Dodgers -1.5 (Dodgers favored to win by two or more runs, otherwise Cardinals cover)
Moneyline: Dodgers -238 favorites to win (bet $10 to win $14.20 total); Cardinals +190 underdogs to win (bet $10 to win $29.00 total)
Total scoring over/under: 7.5 runs scored by both teams combined
Pick via FOX Sports' MLB Analyst Ben Verlander: "There's nothing I love more in October than watching a super-hot team grab a wild-card spot and continue its hot stretch into the playoffs.
"The Cardinals are the hottest team on the planet the past few weeks, and they have every bit enough talent to go into L.A. and beat the Dodgers in a one-game playoff."
"We’ve seen it so many times since the wild card was implemented in 1995. Look no further than two years ago, when the Nationals got hot, snuck into the playoffs, and went on to win the World Series. The Cardinals themselves accomplished the feat in 2011."
"I foresee the Cardinals knocking out the entire NL West before losing to the Brew Crew in the NLCS."
PICK: Cardinals to win (moneyline+190 at FOX Bet)
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