Detroit Tigers (12-17) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (10-20)
May 5, 2023 8:15 pm EDT
The Line: St. Louis Cardinals -230 / Detroit Tigers +195; Over/Under: 8
(Get latest betting odds)
The Detroit Tigers and the Saint Louis Cardinals meet Friday in MLB action from Busch Stadium. The Tigers are coming off a series versus the Mets. Detroit won the first pair, then on Thursday the Tigers posted a shutout victory. As for St. Louis, they played the Angels this week. After losses in the first pair, in game three the Cardinals fell by four runs. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Detroit Tigers
The Tigers eked out a 6-5 win over the Mets in the doubleheader game one Wednesday, then notched an 8-1 win in the nightcap. On Thursday Detroit made it a sweep with a 2-0 victory. Eduardo Rodriguez had a great start with 8.0 innings, two hits, one walk and nine Ks.
As starter for the Friday matchup it’ll be Detroit’s Matthew Boyd. This year across five starts Boyd is 1-2 with a 5.47 ERA and 22 Ks in 24.2 innings. Boyd is 40-64 with a 4.91 career ERA in 164 games (150 starts).
St. Louis Cardinals
Over on the St. Louis side, they managed a 5-1 loss on Tuesday versus the Angels, then fell again 6-4 in game two. On Thursday the Cardinals gave up 16 hits in an 11-7 defeat. Starter Jack Flaherty lasted just 2.1 innings with 10 earned, nine hits and a walk.
Jordan Montgomery will take the mound for the Cardinals on Friday. In his six starts so far Montgomery is 2-4 with a 3.34 ERA and 32 Ks in 35.0 innings. Over his career Montgomery is 30-27 with a 3.82 ERA in 115 games (114 starts).
The Tigers are 37-81 in their last 118 Friday games and 5-13 in their last 18 road games. Detroit is 8-2 in their last 10 versus the NL Central.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals are 4-1 in their last five versus the AL Central and 5-17 in their last 22 in game one of a series. St. Louis is 1-4 in their last five Friday games.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll take a stab on the Cardinals in the opener, even though they’ve been struggling lately. Probably not touching it regardless, though; the line’s just too thick to mess with. The good news is that Montgomery has just one earned on 10 hits and three walks over his last two starts in 12.2 innings. The bad news is that Montgomery is 0-2 in that time, so he’ll need some offensive help. On Thursday the Cardinals fell behind early and couldn’t crawl out of the 11-2 hole. That said, St. Louis still had a solid offensive outing. A good start from Montgomery would go a long way here.
