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NL Central contenders collide when the Cardinals meet the Brewers for the opener of a three-game series in St. Louis Monday night. The Redbirds are trending in the right direction as of late, while Milwaukee is giving up a lot of runs. Who do we like here for our free MLB pick?
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<h2>
MLB Betting Odds<br />
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Monday's MLB betting odds opened St. Louis at around -125 over Milwaukee, with an over/under of 9.5 runs. Both those figures were holding steady in the early betting action.
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<h2>
Brewers vs. Cardinals Set-Up<br />
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Milwaukee just dropped two of three games at Washington over the weekend, losing Sunday's series rubber match 16-8. Saturday night the Brewers beat the Nationals 15-14 in 14 innings. So Milwaukee pitching has given up a lot of runs over the last couple of days.
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Just before that, the Brewers split two games with Minnesota, and just prior to that they lost the finale of a series against Texas. So Milwaukee is just 2-4 over its last six games.
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St. Louis, meanwhile, just split four games in Cincinnati over the weekend, winning Sunday 5-4. Just before that the Cardinals swept two games from Kansas City, and just before that they swept three games from Pittsburgh. So St. Louis is 7-2 over its last nine games.
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At 65-57 overall the Cardinals are tied with the Cubs for first place in the NL Central, two games ahead of the 64-60 Brewers.
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Milwaukee is also two games behind Chicago in the battle for the second National League wild-card spot.
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These teams have split ten meetings so far this season.
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<h2>
Monday's Starting Arms<br />
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<a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/215298&quot; title="Dakota Hudson Pitching Logs">Hudson</a>, by our stringent standards, is 9/24 on quality starts this season, but only one for his last six. Last Wednesday he tossed six innings of five-hit, scoreless ball in a 6-0 St. Louis victory over the Royals. But over his previous five outings, he allowed 17 runs – 16 earned – and 31 hits through 23 innings.
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On the season the Cardinals are 16-8 with Hudson, and while they're 6-2 over his last eight starts, he can't take all the credit for that.
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In two starts earlier this season against the Brewers Hudson gave up ten runs – nine earned – and 15 hits, including five home runs, through just eight innings. St. Louis lost both those games.
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<a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/70842&quot; title="Zack Davies Pitching Logs">Davies</a> is coming off a short stint on the DL (sore back) to start Monday night. On the season he's 8/23 on quality starts but 0 for his last three. Most recently, 17 days ago, he gave up four runs and seven hits through four innings of a 6-2 Milwaukee loss to the Cubs. And over his last three starts he gave up 18 runs – 17 earned – and 20 hits, including six homers, through 13 innings.
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The Brewers are 13-10 with Davies this year but 0-3 over his last three starts.
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Over his last three starts against the Cardinals, two last year and one earlier this season, Davies allowed 14 runs – 13 earned – and 23 hits through 15 1/3 innings. Milwaukee lost all three of those games.
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<h2>
Monday's Batting Splits<br />
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Milwaukee is batting .252/.333/.450 against right-handed pitching this season.
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St. Louis is batting, 243/.314/.401 against RH pitching this season.
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<h2>
The Bullpens<br />
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The Brewers bullpen owns a 4.65 ERA this season and a 1.35 WHIP while allowing a .738 OPS.
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The Cardinals pen owns a 3.75 ERA and an ML-best 1.17 WHIP while allowing an ML-low .657 OPS. Numbers like those help this unit rank among the top two or three bullpens in Baseball.
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<h2>
Totals Report<br />
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Unders are 63-57 in Brewers games this season.
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Unders are 67-48 in Cardinals games this season.
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Unders are 35-20 in games played at Busch Stadium this season.
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Overs are 5-4 in Brewers-Cardinals games this season.
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Unders are a combined 28-16 with Hudson and Davies this season.
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<p><section></p>
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<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/1082603">Brewers at Cardinals MLB Match-up Stats</a> </span>
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