The St. Louis Cardinals, undoubtedly hurting from its bullpen meltdown on Tuesday resulting in a 10-2 home loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, look to bounce back on the arm of right-hander Kyle Lohse. The bad news for St. Louis, their best weapon, Albert Pujols, is on the DL for the next month with a broken arm. Lohse has been surprisingly one of the Cardinals best this year with a 7-3 record and a 2.88 ERA. Countering for the Phillies is veteran southpaw Cliff Lee (7-5, 3.12 ERA).
It's not often when oddsmakers line the Cardinals underdogs at home but that's exactly what they're doing for tonight's game. The Cardinals are listed as +135 MLB Odds underdogs with a 7 1/2 run total while Phillies backers are giving -155 on the offshore moneyline as favorites.
The big reason the Cardinals are tonight's underdogs is because of who's pitching for the Phillies. And it doesn't help with Pujols' on the DL either. Cliff Lee, the former Cy Young Award winner is red hot, winning three in a row while giving up only 13 hits and striking out 21 in 24 innings. But if Lee has a weakness, its winning on the road. In his last road start, Lee gave up six runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings against the Nationals.
Lohse has come back to earth a bit after a hot start, allowing four runs in each of his past three starts. Most disconcerting is that he's allowed five homers in those three games after allowing just three in his first 11 starts.
Betting trends show the public's wagering the Phillies heavily by 78 percent on the MLB Odds moneyline while 76 percent are risking the game total to fall UNDER the posted 7 1/2 run total.
