Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (3-1) vs Los Angeles Angels (3-1)
Time: 6:45pm CT Tuesday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Matthew Liberatore (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Kyle Hendricks (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Cardinals -155, Angels +130
Total: 8.5 (over -105, under -115)
Birds Hope To Bounce Back
The St. Louis Cardinals will try to bounce back from their first loss of the season when they host the Los Angeles Angels in game two of their three-game series tonight.
The Redbirds fell 5-4 in 10 innings last night, snapping their three-game winning streak to begin the season.
Cards Still Hitting
Despite the loss, the Cardinals continue to pile up the hits. They’ve reached double-digit hits in all four games this season.
The Cards send Matthew Liberatore to the mound tonight. The left-hander was fantastic in spring training with a 1.62 ERA and 0.78 WHIP in 16.2 innings pitched.
Oh No… Kyle Hendricks Is Back
This is not an April fools joke… longtime Cardinals nemesis Kyle Hendricks is the starting pitcher for the Angels tonight. The crafty, soft-tossing former Cub has stymied Redbird hitters and provided nightmare fuel for Cardinals fans for a decade now.
In his 28 career appearances against the Cards, Hendricks has compiled a 14-4 record with a 2.51 ERA. Upon looking up that stat, I was honestly surprised the Cardinals had beaten him four times. Overall, the Redbirds have lost 19 of the 28 games in which they’ve faced Hendricks.
My Pick
I let out an audible “oh no” when I saw that the grim reaper that is Kyle Hendricks would be starting this game. I frankly had no idea he was on the Angels and thought we were finally rid of this menace when he departed from the Cubs at the end of last season - and here he is showing up in game #5 of the season.
This reminds me of a horror movie where you think the villain is dead, but he comes back for one more scare before you finally kill him for good. I can give you plenty of reasons why the Cardinals should be able to mash against this guy, and maybe they will finally crush Hendricks with a refreshed approach under new hitting coach Brant Brown - and then hopefully we never see Hendricks again.
But there is a 0% chance I am going to put my money on that happening.
Here’s thinking Hendricks pulls off another Houdini act while Liberatore shuts down a poor Angels offense that has scored only 10 runs in the first four games. I’m betting the first five under in this game.
Last night’s extra innings game was a good reminder. I rarely bet a full game under in baseball because the automatic runner in extra innings can absolutely wreck an under, which is exactly what happened last night. If you like an under in large part because of the starting pitching matchup, consider taking the first five under.
Pick: Under 4.5 in the first five innings at -105 on DraftKings (bet up to -110)
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Friday on the Sports Hub STL YouTube channel. Follow him on X @GamblingDads, and click here for his daily picks on all of our St. Louis area sports teams. Disclaimer