St. Louis Cardinals vs. Detroit Tigers Preview and Pick

First place in the National League Central visits first place in the American League Central as the St. Louis Cardinals head to MoTown for a three-game interleague series with the Detroit Tigers this weekend at Comerica Park.

St. Louis just got swept three games by the Chicago White Sox, getting outscored 34-11 in the process. But the Cardinals still lead the NL Central by four games over second-place Cincinnati.

Detroit, owners of the best record in baseball, just finished up a 5-1 road trip and have won 10 of their last 12 games. The Tigers still sit atop the AL Central, but their lead has been cut to a half-game by the second-place Chicago White Sox.

These two teams have not met on the field since the 2001 regular season.

St. Louis is 18-16 on the road this season, while Detroit is 20-14 at home.

Cardinals’ starter Carpenter (6-3, 2.46) has been pretty good in three starts since coming off the DL, allowing 4 ER and 25 H+W in 19 IP. St. Louis is 8-5 in Carpenter’s starts this year, the over/under 4-9.

Carpenter has not started a game vs. Detroit since he was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays back in 2001.

The Tigers’ Verlander (8-4, 3.21) has given up 7 ER and 24 H+W in his last 17 2/3 IP. Detroit is 10-4 in Verlander’s starts this season, the o/u 6-8.

Verlander has never started a game vs. St. Louis.

Saturday’s game in this series pits Jeff Suppan (6-4, 5.07) for the Cardinals vs. Kenny Rogers (10-3, 3.17) for the Tigers. Sunday, Jeremy Bonderman (7-4, 3.82) will go for Detroit, while a St. Louis starter has not yet been announced.

The St. Louis offense, which welcomed The Great Albert Pujols back from the DL Thursday, owns a .347 team OBP this year, 8th-best in the majors, and averages 5.1 runs per game.

Detroit owns a .327 team OBP, tied for 9th-worst in the majors, but also averages 5.1 RPG.

The Cardinals’ bullpen (thanks to a couple of bad games vs. the White Sox) has been bopped around for 14 ER and 21 H+W in its last 13 innings of work.

The Tigers’ pen has allowed 5 ER and 9 H+W in its’ last 9 2/3 IP.

St. Louis OF Jim Edmonds missed Thursday’s game after suffering a concussion, and he’s listed as questionable for Friday.

The o/u is 36-31 in Cardinals games this year, but 25-45 in Tigers games and 11-21 at Comerica Park.

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The Ultimatecapper Pick: Chris Carpenter is an absolutely sick starting pitcher. Surely one of the most underrated arms in the league. Verlander is no slouch, but he’s looked more human as of late so we have to side with the Cards in a low scoring game here. The under is probably just as safe of a bet if not better as well.