<p>St. Louis and San Diego are both hovering around the .500 mark heading into the opener of this three-game series at Petco Park Friday night. Who do we like here for our free MLB pick?</p>
<h2>
MLB Betting Odds<br />
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<p>
Friday's MLB betting odds opened San Diego at around -120 over St. Louis, with an over/under of 8.5 runs, and both those figures were holding steady in the early betting action.
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<h2>
Cardinals vs. Padres Set-Up<br />
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<p>
St. Louis just got swept two games at home by Oakland, losing Wednesday's series finale 2-0. The Cardinals then had Thursday off.
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Just before that St. Louis lost the last game of a three-game series against the Angels. So the Cardinals lug a three-game losing streak into Friday night.
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At 40-39 overall St. Louis trails the division-leading Cubs by three games in the NL Central and sits two games back of Milwaukee and Philadelphia in the National League wild-card race.
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San Diego, meanwhile, just swept two games in Baltimore this week, winning Wednesday 10-5. The Padres then also had Thursday off.
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Just before that, though, San Diego got swept three games in Pittsburgh. But just before that the Padres won four straight. So San Diego is 6-3 over its last nine games.
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At 40-40 overall the Padres trail the division-leading Dodgers by 14.5 games in the NL West, but they're only 2.5 games out in that NL wild-card race.
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This series is the second meeting between these teams this season. Back in April the Padres took two of three games from the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
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<h2>
Friday's Starting Arms<br />
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Lefty Lauer, by our stringent standards, is 5/15 on quality starts this season, but three for his last four. Last Friday he held Pittsburgh to two runs – one earned – and five hits through seven innings, although the Padres lost that game 2-1. And five times in his last seven outings he threw at least 5 1/3 innings while allowing just one earned run.
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San Diego is 7-8 with Lauer this season, and while they're 0-3 over his last three starts, that's not his fault.
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In two starts last year against St. Louis Lauer allowed eight runs and 15 hits, including five home runs, through eight innings. The Padres managed to split those two games.
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Wacha is just 4/12 on quality starts this year, but two for his last three. Last Friday he held the Angels to one run and five hits through six innings of a 5-1 St. Louis victory, which was a nice rebound effort after giving up five ER in four innings against the Mets his previous time out.
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St. Louis is 6-6 with Wacha this season, 2-1 over his last three starts.
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Over his last two starts against San Diego, one earlier this year and one previous year, Wacha allowed just two runs and six hits through 11 2/3 innings. Somehow the Cardinals lost both those games.
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<h2>
Friday's Batting Splits<br />
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<p>
St. Louis is batting .229/.309/.404 against left-handed pitching this season. But this lineup has also scored a total of just 24 runs over its last eight games.
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San Diego is batting .243/.304/.424 against right-handed pitching this season. This lineup has also scored 28 runs over its last three games.
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<h2>
The Bullpens<br />
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The Cardinals bullpen owns a 3.98 ERA this season and a 1.16 WHIP while allowing a .663 OPS. But this unit also just lost closer Jordan Hicks for the season to an elbow injury.
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The Padres pen owns a 4.88 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP while allowing a .763 OPS.
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<h2>
Totals Report<br />
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Unders are 40-36 in Cardinals games this season.
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Overs are 39-34 in Padres games this season.
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Unders are 22-17 in games played at Petco Park this season.
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Overs are 2-1 in Cardinals-Padres games 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/1079398">Cardinals at Padres MLB Match-up Stats</a> </span>
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</ul>
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