Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (14-18) vs New York Mets (21-11)
Time: 7:15pm CT Friday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Sonny Gray (3-0, 3.60 ERA) vs Clay Holmes (3-1, 2.64 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Mets -115, Cardinals -105
Total: 7.5 (over -115, under -105)
Cardinals Back At Busch
The St. Louis Cardinals return home to face the New York Mets in a three-game set starting tonight at Busch Stadium.
The Redbirds have won four of their five series at home this season while compiling a 10-5 record at Busch.
Cards Send Ace To The Mound
Sonny Gray gets the ball for the Cardinals tonight. The right-hander has allowed 3 earned runs or less in five of his six starts this season. Gray also enjoys being in the comforts of home, as he has a 3.06 ERA in 26 career starts at Busch.
Gray had a quality start when he faced the Mets back on April 20th going 6 innings with 3 earned runs allowed and 6 strikeouts. The Cardinals lost that game 7-4, but that’s their only loss in Gray’s six starts this season.
Mets With Dominant Pitching
The Mets are already ten games over .500 in large part because of their pitching. Their 2.68 team ERA leads MLB, as does their 2.24 starters ERA. Tonight’s starter Clay Holmes has contributed with a 2.64 ERA, including 6 innings of 1-run ball against Gray and the Cardinals on April 20th.
The Cards will have to be wary of Juan Soto, who is off to a slow start this season by his standards. However, Soto mashed two home runs yesterday and could be ready to take off with the month of May here.
My Pick
I’m turning to the player prop market in this one with Soto as the focal point. March/April is historically his worst month with a .258 batting average. But in May, Soto is a career .300 hitter with a .960 OPS - and we saw signs yesterday of what the turn of the calendar can do for him.
Soto has faced Gray 14 times in his career, and the slugger is 5-for-10 with a home run and 4 walks. So for my pick for this game, I’m taking Soto to have over 1.5 combined hits, runs, and RBI. He reached that mark in three of the four games against the Cardinals last month, including the game against Gray where he went 2-for-3 with a run scored and 3 RBI.
Pick: Juan Soto over 1.5 Hits+Runs+RBI at -130 on DraftKings (would not lay higher juice than that)
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. Picks = betting the game - minus odds betting to win 1 unit, plus odds risking 1 unit. Leans = no strong opinion, not betting the game. Disclaimer