MLB Playoffs 2015 Betting Odds – October 12
Carrie Stroup here with your MLB Playoffs betting odds for Monday October 12
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (102-62) at CHICAGO CUBS (99-66)
NL Division Series – Game 3
Sportsbook.ag Line: St. Louis +195, Chicago -230, Total: 7.5
The Cardinals will be looking to avoid a 2-1 deficit when they face Jake Arrieta and the Cubs in Chicago on Monday.
Chicago had its back against the wall in Game 2, but the team was able to come away with a big victory to even up the series. The Cubs teed off on Jaime Garcia early on, scoring five runs in the second inning and the Cardinals were never able to recover from that. The victory for Chicago gives the team nine wins in its past 10 contests.
The Cubs have clicked on all cylinders recently and they’ll now send RHP Jake Arrieta (23-6, 1.70 ERA, 247 K) to the mound against RHP Michael Wacha (17-7, 3.37 ERA, 153 K) of the Cardinals. Chicago is 18-1 against the money line when Arrieta is on the mound in the second half of the season this year. St. Louis, however, is 44-17 against the money line off a loss to a division rival as a favorite over the past three seasons. The Cardinals will also feel confident the rest of this series due to the fact that they are 12-9 against the Cubs this season.
Both teams will be entering this game at full strength, so this should be a very exciting one on Monday.
Michael Wacha really struggled in the month of September, pitching just 24.0 innings in five starts and putting up a 7.88 ERA in those outings. He has not been the pitcher this team needs him to be and that will have to change on Monday or his team could be facing an early exit from the postseason. The last time Wacha faced the Cubs was Sep. 19, when he pitched five innings and allowed four earned runs on two homers and six hits. He allowed six earned runs and two homers in four innings of work against the Cubs just two starts earlier on Sep. 8. If he is unable to keep the ball in the park then St. Louis will almost assuredly be facing a 2-1 series deficit after this one.
Offensively, the Cardinals will need to find a way to get some hits off of the game’s hottest pitcher. One guy who has had some success against Arrieta in the past is OF Jason Heyward (.293, 13 HR, 60 RBI). Heyward is 6-for-18 with a double and an RBI against the ace, but is also just 2-for-8 overall in this year’s playoffs. He’ll be hoping to break out of his slump in this one.
Another player to look out for this game is OF Stephen Piscotty (.305, 7 HR, 39 RBI). Since being called up, Piscotty has been this team’s most reliable hitter. That continues to be the case in the postseason, as Piscotty is 3-for-8 with a homer and two RBI in this series. He’ll need to come through on the road here on Monday.
Jake Arrieta was brilliant in the NL wildcard game, pitching nine innings of shutout baseball and striking out 11 batters in the process. He is, however, facing a Cardinals team that game him the most trouble of anybody over the past three months. The seven hits he allowed in a 7-4 victory over St. Louis on Jul. 7 is the most he’s given up since June. Fortunately, he was able to get his team a win in that one and he’ll be hoping to be a bit better than that on Monday.
Offensively, the players to watch in this game are 1B Anthony Rizzo (.278, 31 HR, 101 RBI), 3B Kris Bryant (.275, 26 HR, 99 RBI) and SS Starlin Castro (.265, 11 HR, 69 RBI). These three guys have dominated Wacha in their careers, going a combined 23-for-54 with five homers and 14 RBI against the pitcher. If they can find a way to produce at anything near that rate in this one then Arrieta should be able to take care of the rest and get this team a 2-1 series lead.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS (93-71) at NEW YORK METS (91-73)
NL Division Series – Game 3
Sportsbook.ag Line: Los Angeles +153, New York -168, Total: 6.5
The Dodgers will be looking to carry their momentum from Game 2 into this Game 3 meeting with the Mets in New York on Monday.
The Dodgers looked to be in serious trouble in Game 2, trailing 2-1 against the Mets before scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to win 5-2. This series is now tied up at 1-1. The Dodgers have won five of their past six games coming into this contest, but they are just 4-5 against the Mets on the year overall and 2-2 when playing in New York.
The starters in this game are going to be LHP Brett Anderson (10-9, 3.74 ERA, 116 K) for the Dodgers and RHP Matt Harvey (13-8, 2.85 ERA, 188 K) for the Mets. Los Angeles is 17-3 against the money line with an on base percentage of .300 or worse over its past 15 games this season. New York, however, is 15-2 against the money line when playing on Monday this season and 9-1 against the money line after having lost six or seven of its past eight games on the year as well.
2B Chase Utley (Suspension) is expected to be out for Games 3 and 4 of this series and 3B Ruben Tejada (Knee) is out for the playoffs as a result of Utley’s dangerous slide into second base last game.
The Dodgers needed a victory in Game 2 and were able to get the job done to take some pressure off of the team heading into this contest. Brett Anderson had an up-and-down year with Los Angeles, but he ended the year on a positive note, pitching 7.2 innings and allowing just two earned runs in a meeting with the Giants on Oct. 1. One thing that works in his favor is the fact that he was much better on the road this season than he was at home. Anderson went 7-4 with a 3.07 ERA when pitching on the road and should benefit from starting in the pitcher-friendly Citi Field.
1B Adrian Gonzalez (.275, 28 HR, 90 RBI) was clutch in Game 2, hitting a double that drove in two runs to give the Dodgers a 4-2 lead in the seventh inning on Saturday. He’ll need to keep producing at the plate if Los Angeles is going to find a way to win this series.
3B Justin Turner (.294, 16 HR, 60 RBI) has been hot this series, going 4-for-8 with three doubles and an RBI. It would really help the team if he is able to keep driving in runs behind Gonzalez.
Matt Harvey will be taking the mound for the Mets on Monday and Harvey was very solid in his final three starts of the year. He pitched a total of 17.2 innings in those games and allowed just two earned runs over those starts. He also struck out a total of 24 batters in those games and will need to bring the same dominant stuff in Game 3.
In two meetings with the Dodgers this season, Harvey pitched 12.0 innings and allowed five earned runs on 13 hits. While those numbers aren’t horrible, even allowing three earned in the postseason will put the Mets in danger of losing. He’ll need to be at his absolute best on Monday.
One big positive for the Mets to take away from Game 2 was that OF Yoenis Cespedes (.291, 35 HR, 105 RBI) was able to go yard. He had not homered since Sep. 14 and the Mets desperately need his power in the playoffs.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
