The Houston Astros enter this game having lost three of their last five games but are coming off a 10-7 win on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals in game two of the series on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Cardinals enter this game having lost three of their last five games which includes Wednesday’s 7-10 loss in game two of the series against the Houston Astros which also ended their two-game winning streak.
BookMaker has the Houston Astros listed as -118 money line favorites on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals and has set the total for the over/under plays at 9.5 runs. Which team will come away with the win in the series by winning game three on Thursday night? Let’s take a closer look at how these teams are faring this season.
The Houston Astros enter this game with an overall record of 43-37 which puts them in 3rd place in the AL West and are coming off a 10-7 win in game two of the series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Offensively, Houston scored ten runs off 11 hits with five of the runs coming in the 8th inning which included a three-run home run hit by Jose Altuve that also scored Bligh Madris and Jake Meyers.
The Astros will send J.P. France to the mound for game three of the series against the Cardinals on Thursday. France is 2-3 this season with a 3.54 ERA while recording 42 strikeouts.
The St. Louis Cardinals enter this game with an overall record of 33-46 which puts them in 5th place in the NL Central and are coming off a 7-10 loss against the Houston Astros in game two of the series.
Offensively, the Cardinals scored seven runs off 11 hits with four of the runs coming in the 1st inning which included a three-run home run hit by Nolan Arenado that also scored Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbaar.
Adam Wainwright will take the mound for St. Louis against Houston Thursday for game three of the series. Wainwright is 3-2 on the year with an ERA of 6.56 and has recorded 24 strikeouts.
Both teams are 5-5 in the last ten games in the series, however, Houston has outscored St. Louis by an average of 4.9 to 4.4 runs per game in those matchups. The Astros have won two of the last three games in the series and have won by an average score of 6 to 4.33 in those contests.
The total is 5-5 in the last ten games in the series with the teams combining for an average of 9.3 runs per game in those contests. The under has hit in two of the last three games in the series with the teams combining for an average of 10.33 runs per game in those matchups.
Houston enters this game with a better record and has been the better team most recently in the series, winning two of the last three games. The Astros have won by an average margin of 1.67 runs per game over the last three games in the series. As a result, I am taking the money line for the Houston Astros at -118 on BookMaker for this matchup on Thursday night.
