The San Francisco Giants'(36-38) take on the St. Louis Cardinals (36-36) Thursday in the opener of a 3-game set at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala., at 7:15 p.m. ET (FOX). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Giants vs. Cardinals odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: First meeting; Giants won 6-1 last year.
This game has been dubbed “MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues,” as the game will be played in the home of the Birmingham Black Barons. This game has taken on more significance with the passing of the' Willie Mays at age 93 Tuesday. St. Louis will be the home team, and after an off-day Friday, the series will shift to Busch Stadium for the final 2 games.
This will be the first MLB game ever at the stadium, which has undergone renovations over the past year to prepare for this game. The dimensions are about 400 feet to center field, 370 to right field and 325 to left, and it has a double decker wall, which may keep more balls in the park. The stadium was always known to be a cavernous pitchers’ park. While the renovations were made to align the park more with present-day stadiums, it could still lean toward pitchers.