BetED: MLB Wild Card races heat up

Two teams that have a shot at the National League Wild Card spot but are still in the running for their division titles are the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals, who open a three-game series Friday night at Busch Stadium (8:15 pm ET, FOX).

MLB Odds at betED.com have the Cardinals as a -160 moneyline favorite and the over/under total at 8 for the series opener.

San Franciscois two games back of the NL Wild Card-leading Philadelphia Phillies, while St. Louis is 2.5 games off the pace. And both teams are still in the hunt for division pennants, with the Cardinals three games behind the NL Central-leading Cincinnati Reds, and the Giants six back of the San Diego Padres, who are first in the NL West.

Lefthander Madison Bumgarner, who is 4-4 with a 3.27 ERA this season, gets the start for San Francisco. He’ll face St. Louis righthander Jake Westbrook, who is 7-7 with a 4.48 ERA.

The Giants wrapped up a three-game series against the Phillies on Thursday night, with the Phillies winning the series 2-1. The Cardinals have lost four straight games, the last two against the Milwaukee Brewers after dropping two straight against the Chicago Cubs.

This is the second series of the season between the clubs. The Giants won a three-gamer 2-1 April 23 to 25, taking the first two before the Cardinals won the finale 2-0.

Another significant series this weekend has the Tampa Bay Rays trying to maintain a share of first place in the AL East with the New York Yankees as they face the Oakland Athletics at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

MLB Betting has Tampa Bay as a -145 favorite for the second game of the four-game series on Friday.

The Rays will start righthander Jeremy Hellickson, who is 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA so far this season. The A’s will counter with righthander Vin Mazzaro, who is 5-5 with a 3.63 ERA.