| Free MLB Picks: Cardinals at Astros MLB Odds - September 23, 2009 |
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| Written by Benton Vale | |||||||
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Wednesday, 23 September 2009
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Free MLB Picks - Cardinals at Astros MLB Odds: The St. Louis Cardinals, on the cusp of winning the National League Central Division crown, could possibly clinch with a win over the Astros, combined with a Cubs loss at Milwaukee today. A Cardinals win would also give the team a three games sweep of the Astros, losers of their last nine games. Getting the start for the Cardinals is rejuvinated veteran John Smoltz. The lefthander is 3-6 this year with a 6.22 ERA, most of the previous starts coming with Boston. Countering for the Astros is righthander Bud Norris. The rookie righthander is 5-3 on the year with a 5.07 ERA. MLB Picks oddsmakers at Bodog.com list the Cardinals as 123-favorites on the Bodog MLB moneyline with an 8 1/2 total. Astros backers are getting +113 odds as a home underdog. Smoltz returned on Sept. 18 after having mild shoulder tendinitis and gave up two runs on three straight doubles in the first inning against the Cubs. But he shut out Chicago for the next five innings, moving away from using his fastball, which he wasn't especially pleased with, and the Cardinals came back to win, 3-2. Norris gets a chance to face the Cardinals for the second time in his career. He made his first Major League start against St. Louis in Aug. 2 at Busch Stadium and threw seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, four walks and striking out five batters. He had decisions in his first eight Major League starts before throwing five innings and give up three hits and one run and striking out eight batters for a no-decision Friday in Milwaukee. Yadier Molina was 2-for-5 with a two-run big fly, as the Cardinals hammered the Astros 11-2 on Tuesday night. St. Louis cashed as -165 road favorites, while the game played OVER the 9-run total listed by sportsbooks. Mark DeRosa went 2-for-5 with two runs batted in for the Cardinals, as Joel Pineiro gave up only one run over seven innings to earn the win for St. Louis. Miguel Tejada was 3-for-4 with a run batted in for Houston, while Yorman Bazardo was rocked for six runs over 3 2-3 innings to get handed the loss for the Astros. Free MLB Picks: Our Point-Spreads.com pick for this game is the total OVER 8 1/2. The formula for this pick; two starting pitchers with ERA's exceeding 5.00 equals many runs. Bet on sports at online sportsbook Bodog.com and receive a 10% Deposit Bonus and start winning today.                        |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 23 September 2009 ) | |||||||