Atlanta (28-23) at St Louis (25-24)
When: Friday, May 24th, 2019
Where: Busch Stadium,
St Louis, Missouri
Time: 8:15 ET | TV: MLB Network
Opening Odds: St Louis -145/8.5
The Atlanta Braves’ slow start is a thing of the past as they continue to climb up the NL East standings after a successful start to their seven-game road trip. Atlanta will be in St. Louis Friday night to take on the Cardinals in the first of three that culminates with ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Atlanta’s offense is starting to take off and one of the reasons has been the arrival of Austin Riley. The rookie has had a sensational start to his career, hitting .389 with a 1.254 OPS and helping the Braves take three of four in San Francisco including a 5-4, 13-inning victory Thursday. Riley went 3-for-6 with a two-run homer in the eighth to tie the game before singling home the game-winning run in the 13th to lift Atlanta to its 10th victory in its past 13 games. Riley became the ninth player in major-league history to hit five homers in his first nine career games – and he’s only had 34 at-bats. St. Louis, meanwhile, is spiraling down the NL Central standings after dropping 14 of their past 20 games. The Cardinals split a doubleheader Wednesday with a 10-3 victory over Kansas City after dropping the opener 8-2 and have allowed four runs or more five times in their last nine games. Left fielder Marcell Ozuna, who has doubled in three straight games, is tied for the major-league lead with 45 RBIs through Thursday’s action. Cardinals’ third baseman Matt Carpenter drove in two runs Wednesday and sits at 499 RBI for his career.
Pitchers: Braves – Mike Foltynewicz (0-3, 6.91 ERA) | Cardinals – Miles Mikolas (4-4, 4.88)
Mike Foltynewicz is off to an awful start to 2019 after a breakout season in 2018 in which he went 13-10 with a 2.85 ERA. He has a long way to go to match those numbers after an 0-3 start and 6.91 ERA this season. He is coming off his best outing to date, limiting the Milwaukee Brewers to two runs on three hits – including a pair of solo homers – over six innings. Overall, Foltynewicz has allowed 10 home runs in his five starts including seven in his last three. The Braves have lost all five of his starts this season including a 14-3 setback to St. Louis on May 14, in which Foltynewicz allowed eight runs on seven hits with three homers in 4.2 innings.
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Miles Mikolas appeared to be turning things around after allowing three runs or more in each of his first four starts to 2019, but was rocked in his latest outing. The Texas Rangers tagged the All-Star (2018) for seven runs on nine hits (including two homers) in 1.1 innings in a 7-3 loss after surrendering three runs total in his previous three outings. Mikolas is 1-1 with a 1.98 ERA in three career games (two starts) against Atlanta.
Neither pitcher has impressed me so far this season after both were impressive in 2018. Not only has Foltynewicz been bad this year, but he’s been terrible against the Cardinals in his career. All six of his starts against St. Louis have gone over and most have gone way over. Mikolas is not coming in with a lot of confidence after getting bashed last time out. I can see a lot of scoring in this one. The total opened at 8.5 and the sharps quickly bet it up to 9.5. That’s OK, because 10 shouldn’t be a problem here.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free MLB Picks page for Friday. He is 66-42 +1812 units on the season after a 16-4 run!
Pick: OVER 9.5 +105
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BETTING TRENDS:
Braves are 5-1 in their last 6 road games.
Braves are 4-1 in their last 5 vs. National League Central.
Braves are 4-1 in their last 5 road games vs. a right-handed starter.
Braves are 4-1 in their last 5 vs. a team with a winning record.
Braves are 9-3 in their last 12 overall.
Braves are 9-3 in their last 12 games on grass.
Braves are 8-3 in their last 11 games vs. a right-handed starter.
Braves are 7-3 in their last 10 Friday games.
Braves are 4-10 in their last 14 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
Braves are 5-11 in Foltynewicz’s last 16 starts following a Quality Start in his last appearance.
Braves are 7-22 in Foltynewicz’s last 29 starts vs. a team with a winning record.
Braves are 5-17 in Foltynewicz’s last 22 starts vs. National League Central.
Braves are 1-4 in Foltynewicz’s last 5 starts during game 1 of a series.
Braves are 2-8 in Foltynewicz’s last 10 Friday starts.
Braves are 1-8 in Foltynewicz’s last 9 starts following a team loss in their previous game.
Braves are 0-7 in Foltynewicz’s last 7 starts.
Braves are 0-7 in Foltynewicz’s last 7 starts on grass.
Cardinals are 8-3 in their last 11 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
Cardinals are 5-11 in their last 16 games vs. a right-handed starter.
Cardinals are 2-5 in their last 7 home games vs. a right-handed starter.
Cardinals are 3-8 in their last 11 vs. a team with a winning record.
Cardinals are 5-14 in their last 19 overall.
Cardinals are 5-14 in their last 19 games on grass.
Cardinals are 1-4 in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a winning record.
Cardinals are 1-4 in their last 5 vs. National League East.
Cardinals are 1-4 in their last 5 home games.
Cardinals are 1-5 in their last 6 games following an off day.
Cardinals are 0-6 in their last 6 Friday games.
Cardinals are 7-0 in Mikolas’ last 7 starts vs. National League East.
Cardinals are 10-1 in Mikolas’ last 11 starts vs. a team with a winning record.
Cardinals are 7-1 in Mikolas’ last 8 home starts vs. a team with a winning record.
Cardinals are 12-3 in Mikolas’ last 15 starts following a team loss in their previous game.
Cardinals are 10-3 in Mikolas’ last 13 home starts.
Cardinals are 20-6 in Mikolas’ last 26 starts.
Cardinals are 20-6 in Mikolas’ last 26 starts on grass.
Cardinals are 1-4 in Mikolas’ last 5 Friday starts.
Under is 4-1 in Braves last 5 overall.
Under is 4-1 in Braves last 5 on grass.
Over is 8-3-2 in Braves last 13 during game 1 of a series.
Under is 5-2 in Braves last 7 road games.
Under is 5-2-1 in Braves last 8 road games vs. a right-handed starter.
Over is 5-2-1 in Braves last 8 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
Over is 6-1 in Foltynewicz’s last 7 starts following a team loss in their previous game.
Under is 5-1 in Foltynewicz’s last 6 starts with 4 days of rest.
Over is 5-1-1 in Foltynewicz’s last 7 starts vs. National League Central.
Over is 5-1 in Foltynewicz’s last 6 road starts vs. a team with a winning record.
Over is 4-1-1 in Foltynewicz’s last 6 starts on grass.
Over is 4-1 in Foltynewicz’s last 5 starts during game 1 of a series.
Over is 4-1-1 in Foltynewicz’s last 6 starts overall.
Over is 3-1-1 in Foltynewicz’s last 5 starts vs. a team with a winning record.
Over is 3-0-1 in Cardinals last 4 games following an off day.
Over is 6-1-1 in Cardinals last 8 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
Over is 4-1 in Cardinals last 5 vs. a team with a winning record.
Over is 16-5-1 in Cardinals last 22 during game 1 of a series.
Under is 3-1-1 in Cardinals last 5 Friday games.
Under is 4-0 in Mikolas’ last 4 starts on grass.
Under is 4-0 in Mikolas’ last 4 starts overall.
Under is 4-1 in Mikolas’ last 5 starts vs. a team with a winning record.
Under is 8-3 in Mikolas’ last 11 home starts vs. a team with a winning record.
Under is 5-2 in Mikolas’ last 7 starts following a team loss in their previous game.
Braves are 4-0 in the last 4 meetings in St. Louis.
Over is 6-0 in Foltynewicz’s last 6 starts vs. Cardinals.
Over is 7-1 in the last 8 meetings in St. Louis.
Over is 17-4 in the last 21 meetings.
Braves are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.
Braves are 1-4 in Foltynewicz’s last 5 starts vs. Cardinals.
