Detroit Tigers vs St. Louis Cardinals Preview
At 1:10 PM ET, the Cardinals and Tigers will square off in an interleague matchup. Wednesday’s matchup is taking place at Comerica Park in Detroit, with the Tigers being the slight favorite on the money line (-111). The over/under line is at 8.5 runs.
St. Louis comes into the game with a record of 14-16, while the Tigers are currently 17-13. Kenta Maeda is starting for the Tigers, and he is facing off against Miles Mikolas for the Cardinals. You can catch this one on MLBN.
Check out BetCoco for Detroit Tigers – St. Louis Cardinals odds
Detroit Tigers Trends and Key Stats
- 3-2 is the record of Cardinals in their last five road games. They have also gone 2-3 vs. the runline.
- The Tigers, on the other hand, have played five home games recently, during which they have recorded a 3-2 (SU) and 4-1 record.
- In the past ten games, when playing as the favorite, the Cardinals have a record of 4-6, while as the underdog, they have a record of 4-6.
- In their last ten games, the Tigers have a record of 4-6 as the favorite and 6-4 as the underdog.
Detroit cruised to an easy 11-6 win over the Cardinals in the most recent game of this series. The Tigers had a huge 5th inning, scoring five of their eleven runs. As for the Cardinals, they scored their six runs in the 7th. Heading into the game, the Tigers were favored at -119 on the money line.
Matt Manning only went 4 2/3 innings for the Tigers but gave up just four hits and four earned runs. Tyler Holton came out of the bullpen for the win. Steven Matz had a rough outing for the Cardinals, going just 3 1/3 innings and giving up four earned runs on seven hits.
Detroit’s offense was led by Wenceel Perez and Riley Greene, as they were the only two Tigers hitters to have more than one hit. Perez, Jake Rogers, and Mark Canha each homered for Detroit.
Detroit Tigers vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction
St. Louis is on the road today vs. the Tigers with an overall record of 14-16, and they are 4.5 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central. So far, they have yet to win a game vs. another NL Central team. The Cardinals dropped the final game of their series vs. the Mets and then won the first game vs. the Tigers.
At home, the Cardinals are 5-7 this year compared to 9-9 on the road. As the road favorite, the Cardinals have gone 3-1 this year, and they are 7-6 when favored overall. St. Louis’ overall series record is 5-4, and they have won two straight series overall and two straight series on the road.
When the Cardinals win, they tend to do so by a large margin, as their average run differential in victories is +2.4. However, when they lose, they lose by an average of -3.8 runs. Despite their overall run differential of -0.9 runs per game, they have a run line record of 17-13, including a 10-8 mark on the road. They have covered the run line in their last two games and are 11-6 against the run line as an underdog.
St. Louis has had 29 games this season, and 14 of them have had over/under lines set at 8.5 runs or higher. The over/under record for those games is 6-6-2, and the average combined run total in those games is 8.1 runs. Overall, the Cardinals’ over/under record for the season is 11-18, and the average over/under line for their games is 8 runs. Today’s over/under line is set at 8.5 runs.
So far this season, Miles Mikolas has made six starts and has a record of 2-3. His ERA is 5.91, along with a WHIP of 1.47. The last time he took the mound, Mikolas picked up the win, going 5 2/3 innings and giving up two earned runs. Looking back over his last three starts, he has not made it out of the fifth inning, giving up at least five earned runs in each of those outings. Mikolas has allowed at least one homer in each of his last three starts.
For the season, the Cardinals are averaging just 3.6 runs per game, which is the worst mark in the league. They are also near the bottom of the league in home runs and have a team batting average of just .220. Nolan Arenado is hitting .272 for the season and is 2nd on the team with 13 RBIs, but he has just one home run so far. Brendan Donovan has gone deep three times and is hitting just .228.
Paul Goldschmidt has been swinging a hot bat of late, going 12/32 in his last eight games. This stretch includes one home run and eight runs scored. Alec Burleson and Brendan Donovan have also been swinging the bat well, with Burleson going 7/19 in his last seven games and Donovan going 9/33 in his last eight games.
Detroit is 17-13 overall and 3rd in the AL Central, trailing the Guardians by 2.5 games. The Tigers lost the first game of this series vs. the Cardinals but bounced back to win the second game. So far, they have been good vs. other AL Central teams, going 9-4.
At home, the Tigers are 7-9 this year, and they have been really good on the road at 10-4. Detroit has won three straight games as the underdog, and they are 5-2-2 in series this year, including having won three straight series overall and two straight series on the road.
The Detroit Tigers have been a solid bet against the run line this season, going 13-17 overall. They have been especially good on the run line on the road, going 9-5. They have covered the run line in five straight games as the underdog and are 10-4 against the run line in that role this season. Their average run differential in winning games is +2.7, while it’s -3.0 in losses.
The Detroit Tigers have had a combined run average of 8.0 runs per game this season, but their over/under record is just 13-15. The over/under line for today’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals is set at 8.5 runs, and the Tigers have gone 1-5 in games with that line this season. Overall, 70% of their games have had lower over/under lines than today’s 8.5-run total.
Kenta Maeda will be making his 2nd start of the season at home against the Cardinals. In his first outing, he went 5 innings and picked up a no-decision, allowing 5 hits and 2 earned runs. He has yet to pick up a win this season, as he also took a no-decision in his first start of the year, and then took a loss in his 2nd start.
Mark Canha and Riley Greene have been swinging the bat well for the Tigers of late, with Canha going 13/32 in his last nine games, including two homers, and Greene is also batting .314 with four homers in this stretch. Greene is currently 4th in the league in homers and has 15 RBIs, which is 2nd on the team. Overall, Greene is batting .257, and Canha is at .278.
As a team, the Tigers are 19th in scoring at 4.1 runs per game. They are also below average in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. Detroit has been a bit better on the road this season, averaging 4.4 runs per contest.
Our predicted final score for this game is 5-4 in favor of the Tigers, and with the Tigers sitting at -111 on the money line, this is the way we recommend playing this one.
Looking at the starting pitchers, Kenta Maeda is projected to go the longest out of any starter today and is also one of our best bets to pick up a win. As for Miles Mikolas, he is sitting in the middle of the pack in terms of picking up a win and is projected to go nine innings, but he is also projected to give up five earned runs.
Detroit Tigers vs St. Louis Cardinals Betting Tips
- Take the Cardinals on the moneyline
- The Tigers are also our pick on the run line at +1.5
- Projecting a combined 9 runs, we like the over
Detroit Tigers Injury Report
| Player | Status | Injury |
|---|---|---|
| Gio Urshela | Out | Hamstring |
| Sawyer Gipson-Long | Out | Elbow |
St. Louis Cardinals Injury Report
| Player | Status | Injury |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Carpenter | Out | Oblique |
| Keynan Middleton | Out | Forearm |
| Dylan Carlson | Out | Shoulder |
| Tommy Edman | Out | Wrist |
| Drew Rom | Out | Biceps |
| Riley O’Brien | Out | Forearm |
