The battle for the NL Central lead continues on with this series finale. It's been a 2-team race between the Brewers and Cardinals virtually all season. Milwaukee was able to hold a lead for quite some time, but the script has flipped recently. They've slumped a bit, getting swept by the Pirates and losing a series to the Reds. Meanwhile, the Cardinals were the first team to sweep the Yankees this season. That has these teams separated by only half a game, and making this game all the more important. Along with this same game parlay, be sure to check out our th oughts on the side and total for all of today's games.
Let's take a closer look at each leg of our same game parlay.
St. Louis Cardinals – 1st 5 innings ML/ML (+140)
After the Cardinals won the series opener, the Brewers were able to bounce back with their ace Corbin Burnes on the mound last night. That was much needed as they have not looked the same since trading away closer Josh Hader to the Padres. Losing 5 of 6 games to the Pirates and Reds is rather inexcusable. The Cards should be able to expose them once again based on the specific matchup for this game. St. Louis was able to win the series opener against lefty Eric Lauer, and they get to face another today. Brewers starter Aaron Ashby is also a lefty, and a far worse one at that.'
The 2nd-year pitcher is now 2-10 on the season after his recent loss in the Reds series. The Brewers have lost each of his last 5 starts, and 9 of his last 10. Ashby isn't exactly set up for success in this situation, given that the Cardinals have smashed lefties this season. They're the 3rd-best lineup against such pitching, behind only the Braves and Yankees. They've already lit up a true lefty ace in Carlos Rodon for 8 runs, so Ashby should be of no concern. It should be a prime opportunity to allow Paul Goldschmidt to continue adding to his NL MVP-campaign. He and the Cards should be leading after the 1st 5 innings, and by the end of the game.