MLB Predictions – Wainwright Leads Cardinals to 4th of July Victory Over Division Rival Brewers

Our Sunday MLB predictions take us to Busch Stadium where the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals will conclude their weekend four-game betting series.

The Brewers entered Game 2 of the series on Friday night having clipped the Redbirds for the 15 th time in their L/20 visits to the Gateway City. The victory improved the Brew Crew to 36-43 on the year (-$820) and closed them to within two games of the breakeven point on the road (19-21) where they’ve made $170 for MLB betting fans to date. They sit 8.5-games in back of the NL Central leading Cincinnati Reds and 8.5-games out in the NL Wild Card chase.

Manager Tony LaRussa’s squad has been playing on the other side of the spectrum having dropped 10 of their L/23 overall ball games (-$694). The recent poor play has seen them fall from the top perch in the NL Central to 1.5-games in back of the Cincinnati Reds, and they’re a single game back of the New York Mets for the Wild Card slot. The Cardinals stand 25-14 at home on the year but has only posted a minimal return of $62.

Milwaukee Brewers vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Game Date/Time: Sunday, July 4th, 2:15 ET

Game Location: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO

TV/Radio Broadcast: FOX – Wisconsin,FOX – Midwest, XM

Yovani Gallardo enters his 18 th start of the year the bread winner on the Milwaukee Brewers starting pitching staff having posted an 8-3 record with a 2.56 ERA & 1.23 WHIP. He’s won each of his L/2 starts with the last one coming at home against Houston whom he limited to seven hits and four runs through six innings of the Brew Crew’s 7-5 victory.

He carries a perfect 4-0 mark on the road with a 2.25 ERA, but Milwaukee has only posted a 4-4 record in his eight overall starts away from Miller Park. Opponents are batting just .220 against him this season, but the Redbirds touched him up for six ER’s through his five innings of work in his April 10 th start against them.

Cardinals’ ace, Adam Wainwright, will oppose the Brewers for the second time this season. His first 2010 go round against his clubs division rivals was one he’ll never forget after tossing a complete game shutout while only giving up a pair of hits back on June 4 th.

St. Louis Cardinals has won all eight of his home starts this season where he sports a 1.49 ERA & 0.90 WHIP having allowed just 40 hits and 10 ER’s with a K/BB ratio of 53/14 through 60.1 total innings pitched. He takes to the bump for the 18 th time this season off his third shutout of the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

MLB Insider Tip : As well as the Brewers have played in this venue of late, I still have to back the home team in this spot regardless of how locked in Gallardo has been over the course of the last month.

Wainwright has been flawless in this venue, and he needs to pick his club up after it’s struggled the last couple weeks. No better time to do it than this afternoon in front of the home fans against the opponent’s top starter.

The Brewers carry a sub .500 record versus NL Central opposition on the year, while the Redbirds stood three-games over .500 against divisional opposition entering Friday night’s game. My MLB predictions for this one have the season long trends holding up in this spot; St. Louis comes out the victor on this 4 th of July finale!

My MLB Prediction: St. Louis Cardinals (Wainwright)

Expert MLB Betting Picks – Shields, Blackburn, Take Mound as Rays Visit Twins

29-year-old right-hander James Shields (6-8, 4.76 ERA) will take the mound for the Tampa Bay Rays and 28-year-old right-hander Nick Blackburn (7-5, 6.02 ERA) will take the hill for the Minnesota Twins when the two ballclubs battle at Target Field this afternoon at 2 PM ET.

Shields has pitched horribly in each of his last two starts, allowing nine earned runs on 13 hits (including three home runs) in 12 combined innings.

The struggling starter was pounded for five earned runs on seven hits in five innings of an 8-5 loss to Boston on Thursday.

Sunday, July 4, 2:10 PM ET

TV: MLBTV

Radio: Sirius 180 XM

MLB Odds

Tampa Bay (46-32 SU, 36-38-4 O/U, 36-42 RL)

Minnesota (43-36 SU, 33-41-5 O/U, 37-42 RL)

Blackburn has been even worse lately MLB gamblers, allowing at least four earned runs in three consecutive starts and while giving up five or more runs in four of those outings.

The right-hander allowed four earned runs on four hits in seven innings of an 11-4 win over Detroit on Thursday.

Shields took his seventh loss in eight starts Tuesday night against the Red Sox when he allowed five earned runs in five innings. This will be Shields’ first start at Target Field; he had an 0-1 record with a 6.19 ERA in three career starts at the Metrodome.

Blackburn snapped his five-game winless streak against the Tigers on Tuesday. He gave up four runs on seven hits in seven innings. Prior to that outing he had a 12.06 ERA in June. His four strikeouts against Detroit were his most since June 12, when he fanned five.

Analysis: The Rays have lost a whopping seven of James Shield’s last eight starts, but the Twins haven’t been much better behind Nick Blackburn, losing five of his last six starts.

For this matchup, I am going to back the Minnesota Twins to get the job done at the plate and support Nick Blackburn like they did in his last start.

Now, knowing the neither pitcher is throwing the ball very competently right now, I’m also going to urge pro baseball betting enthusiasts to play the Over, no matter how high the O/U total looks.

MLB Betting Expert Picks: Minnesota Twins SU Win/Over Set O/U Total

San Francisco Giants at Colorado Rockies – Baseball Betting

What better way to enjoy Independence Day, than with some exciting baseball betting action? Grab a hot dog and a beer and take a seat on the couch for an NL West battle, when the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants square off.

Heading into this game, each is battling for NL West supremacy, currently owned by the Padres. However, each team is going in different directions.

San Francisco Giants (40-38 SU, 35-43 R/L, 37-36-5 O/U) at

Colorado Rockies (42-37 SU, 41-38 R/L, 34-43-2 O/U)

Sunday, July 4: 3:10 p.m.

Baseball Betting Odds:

San Francisco: (Matt Cain-R)

Colorado: (Jason Hammel-R)

Coming into this weekend’s betting action, the Giants are on a violent downswing, as they’ve lost six in a row. Cain, a righty who has been awful in his last two starts, will be asked to stop the bleeding.

What’s surprising about Cain’s numbers, are that overall they are impressive, but those last two outings have killed him. In them, he’s allowed 11 earned runs in just 7.2 innings, including a 2.2 inning, seven earned run start against Houston.

However, prior to that, Cain had been excellent, as he hadn’t allowed more than three earned runs, in any of his previous seven starts. It remains to be seen which Matt Cain shows up Sunday.

If there is any man that understands Cain’s recent struggles though, it’s most definitely Hammel. It’s not that Jason Hammel has necessarily been bad lately- he’s allowed seven earned over his last two starts- just that before his June 24 start, there wasn’t a better pitcher in baseball for a stretch.

At the time, Hammel had thrown 22.1 innings of shutout ball, spanning over three starts. He too, will be an enigma heading into Sunday.

There are no such problems for the Colorado offense however, which is absolutely ripping the cover off the ball heading into this weekend’s betting odds. They’ve scored 26 runs in their last four games coming into the weekend, thanks in large part to outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.

While Gonzalez is hardly a household name, he is quickly becoming a fan favorite at Coors Field, where he leads this team with 13 home runs. He has hit three of those in his last four games heading into the weekend.

So with the better offense, and the more consistent starting pitcher, is there any reason not to bet the Colorado Rockies on Sunday? Not that this writer can think of.

They come into this game playing better baseball, while the Giants just can’t seem to put a run across the board. Currently, they rank in the bottom half of baseball in team batting average, OPS and home runs, an ominous sign, heading into Coors Field.

Enjoy your holiday weekend by getting into the baseball betting action. And there’s only one play to make Sunday, with the Rockies, in a comfortable win.

Aaron’s Pick: Colorado Money Line