<p>
St. Louis and Paul Goldschmidt are hot, and with a victory in the opener of this series, Friday night now owns first place in the NL Central. So it's now a battle of division leaders when these teams meet for the middle game of this three-game series Saturday night. Who do we like here for our free MLB pick?
</p>
<h2>
MLB Betting Odds<br />
</h2>
<p>
Saturday's MLB betting odds opened Houston at around -180 over St. Louis, with an over/under of 8.5 runs. Early betting action then bumped that line up to -185.
</p>
<p>
The Astros could also be found at around -110 giving the run and a half on the MLB run line.
</p>
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<h2>
Astros vs. Cardinals Set-Up<br />
</h2>
<p>
St. Louis took the opener of this series Friday night 5-3, winning as a +100 home “dog” on the MLB betting line. The Cardinals trailed that game 3-2 into the bottom of the eighth inning when Goldschmidt blasted a three-run homer to give them a lead, and the bullpen closed things out.
</p>
<p>
Also, Friday's game played under a total of nine runs.
</p>
<p>
With Friday's victory, the Cardinals now own a six-game winning streak, part of a current 12-2 run. At 56-47 overall St. Louis now leads the NL Central by one game over the second-place Cubs.
</p>
<p>
Even with Friday's loss, Houston is 7-2 over its last nine games. At 66-39 overall the Astros lead the AL West by eight games over second-place Oakland.
</p>
<p>
This series is the first meeting between these two teams since 2016.
</p>
<h2>
Saturday's Starting Arms<br />
</h2>
<p>
<a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/209367&quot; title="Daniel Ponce De Leon Pitcher Logs">Ponce de Leon</a> is 2/6 on quality starts this season, 1/3 since returning to the rotation earlier this month. Monday he gave up one run on three hits and four walks through just three innings against Pittsburgh, although St. Louis won that game anyway 6-5. And over his last three starts, he's allowed six runs and 14 hits through 13 1/3 innings.
</p>
<p>
The Cardinals are 5-1 when Ponce de Leon starts this season.
</p>
<p>
This start will be Ponce de Leon's first-ever outing against Houston.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/48274&quot; title="Gerritt Cole Pitching Logs">Cole</a>, by our strict standards, is 16/22 on quality starts this year and 10 for his last 11. Monday he held Oakland to one run and two hits through seven innings, with 11 strikeouts, in an 11-1 Astros win. And over his last 11 starts, he's allowed 16 earned runs and 49 hits through 71 innings, with 105 strikeouts.
</p>
<p>
Houston is 15-7 with Cole this season, 5-1 over his last six starts.
</p>
<p>
This start will be Cole's first outing against St. Louis since 2017, when over four starts while still with Pittsburgh he allowed ten runs through 23 2/3 innings.
</p>
<h2>
Saturday's Batting Splits<br />
</h2>
<p>
Houston is batting .264/.336/.462 against right-handed pitching this season.
</p>
<p>
St. Louis is batting .246/.319/.409 against RH pitching this season. The Cardinals have also scored 25 runs over their last three games, even while operating without several regulars.
</p>
<h2>
The Bullpens<br />
</h2>
<p>
The Astros bullpen owns a 3.85 ERA this season and a 1.22 WHIP while allowing a .696 OPS.
</p>
<p>
The Cardinals pen owns a 3.89 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP while allowing a .666 OPS.
</p>
<p>
Both these units rank among the top half-dozen bullpens in baseball.
</p>
<h2>
Totals Report<br />
</h2>
<ul>
<li>
Unders are 56-44 in Astros games this season.
</li>
<li>
Unders are 53-44 in Cardinals games this season.
</li>
<li>
Unders are 29-18 in games played at Busch Stadium this season.
</li>
</ul>
<p><section></p>
<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-size:16px;"><b><span style="color:#008000;">Get more details:</span></b> <a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/matchup/1081093">Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals MLB Match-up Stats</a> </span>
</li>
</ul>
<p></section></p>