Cardinals-Giants prediction: Picks, odds on Tuesday, April 25

The St. Louis Cardinals' April swoon continued yesterday with a dismal 4-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants. They'll look to get a game back in the series in game two tonight, with first pitch from Oracle Park set for 9:45 p.m. ET. Struggling righty Jake Woodford (1-2, 6.05 ERA) will go for the Cards, while John Brebbia (1-0, 5.63) will serve as the opener for San Francisco and likely give way at some point to bulk man Jakob Junis.

Both teams are at -110 on the moneyline at DraftKings Sportsbook, while the total is set at 9.

Cardinals-Giants picks: Tuesday, April 25

Cardinals

Out: SP Adam Wainwright (groin strain), RP Wilking Rodriguez (right shoulder), RP Packy Naughton (left forearm strain)

Giants

Day to day: C Joey Bart (groin strain)
Out: INF/OF Drain Ruf (right wrist inflammation), SP Alex Wood (left hamstring strain), OF Bryce Johnson (concussion)

Jake Woodford vs. John Brebbia

After being used mostly out of the bullpen last year, Woodford started the year in the Cardinals rotation to mixed results. Woodford's had one good start (5.1 scoreless innings against the Pirates on April 14) and three bad ones. He's yet to go more than 5.1 innings in a start this year, and has allowed at least three runs in three of his four starts. He ranks in the bottom 20th precentile in almost every stat except for walk rate (66th percentile).

A day after Alex Cobb pitched a complete-game shutout, the Giants are using an opener today, with right-handed longman Jakob Junis (2-1, 4.26 ERA) set to pick up the bulk of the work after Brebbia leaves. Brebbia allowed one run in his 11 opener appearances last season.

If there was ever a game to take the over, this is the one to do it. The Cardinals lineup should be extra motivated after getting shut out last night, and will get a decent amount of hacks off against Junis, who is a solid if unspectacular reliever. On the flip side, the Giants will get plenty of chances to hit against Woodford, who has an expected ERA of 8.04 that's nearly two points higher than his actual ERA. Offense should be easy to come by tonight.

Pick: Over 9

With tonight's game being a toss-up, give me the Cardinals' talent. While St. Louis has been one of the more disappointing teams through the first month of the season, they still have Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. I'm expecting a big game from the heart of St. Louis' order.

Pick: Cardinals

  
Read Full Article