San Francisco (34-22) at St Louis (28-26)
When: Friday, June 3rd 2016
Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO
Time: 8:15 ET | TV: MLB Network
Open an Account at Bovada Sportsbook Now! Sign up at Bovada.lv to get up to a $250 Deposit Bonus and to bet all the Web’s best MLB Baseball odds and props!
The San Francisco Giants will continue their 10-game road trip with three in St. Louis starting on Friday against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Giants had won 15 of 17 before stumbling a bit in Atlanta this week – splitting a four-game series. Madison Bumgarner pitched and hit the Giants to a 6-0 victory against the Braves on Thursday as San Francisco’s starting pitching continued to dominate. The Giants had the best team ERA in the month of May at 2.47. Bumgarner has now won six straight decisions. Buster Posey has eight homeruns on the season, but three of them have come on the current road trip. They’ll need his bat to stay hot as OF Hunter Pence landed on the DL Thursday with a right hamstring injury. St. Louis ended a 4-3 road trip yesterday with a 3-1 setback in Milwaukee. Aledmys Diaz recorded one of the Cardinals’ four hits to finish 5-for-13 in the series and has hit safely in seven of his last eight games. Matt Holliday has been even hotter at the plate, collecting 11 hits in 20 at-bats during his five-game hitting streak.
Pitchers: Giants – Johnny Cueto (8-1, 2.31 ERA) | Cardinals – Adam Wainwright (5-3, 5.71)
Johnny Cueto takes the hill for San Francisco and he’s been one of the reasons the Giants led the league in ERA last month. He has won five consecutive decisions and allowed a total of four earned runs over his last five starts. Cueto pitched only six innings in a victory at Colorado on Sunday due to a stiff back, allowing two runs – one earned – and six hits after allowing just one run in back-to-back complete games against San Diego. Cueto has had his problems with St. Louis, going 5-8 with a 4.08 ERA in 20 career starts.
Adam Wainwright has bounced back after a rough start to the season and has won his last five decisions, including a victory at Washington on Saturday. He allowed four runs and six hits over a season-high seven innings. Wainwright surrendered three home runs in the win after giving up the same amount over his previous six outings. Wainwright has posted a solid 3.11 ERA in 12 career games – 10 starts – against San Francisco but owns just a 5-5 record.
San Francisco is playing a little better right now and Cueto is locked-in. The Giants are a solid 18-11 on the road this season while the Cardinals are just 13-15 at Busch. I’ll take Cueto tonight.
Pick: Giants -115
