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Struggling Giants host Cardinals Thursday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 9/15/2016  at  11:13:00 AM
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ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (76-69)

at SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (77-68)

First pitch: Thursday, 10:15 p.m. ET
Line: St. Louis, San Francisco -155, Total: 7.5

The Giants will be hoping to avoid a fourth consecutive loss when they host the Cardinals on Thursday.

The Cardinals and Giants are currently fighting for the same NL Wild Card spots, but St. Louis has been playing a lot better than San Francisco has lately. Even though the Cardinals lost two of their three games against the Cubs last series, St. Louis is still 6-5 in its past 11 games. The Giants, meanwhile, were just swept by an awful Padres team and are now 5-8 in their past 13 games. They once looked like a lock to make the postseason, but they are now seemingly the most vulnerable team in the Wild Card race. The Cardinals have won two of the three games these teams have played in this series and they’ll be sending RHP Adam Wainwright (11-8, 4.45 ERA, 141 K) to the mound in this one. Wainwright is only 5-7 when starting against San Francisco since 1997, but he does have an ERA of just 2.87 in those games. Starting for the Giants will be RHP Johnny Cueto (15-5, 2.90 ERA, 174 K) and he’ll be looking to keep his career year going. It’s worth noting that St. Louis is 9-3 against the money line as a road underdog of +125 to +175 this season. Johnny Cueto’s teams are, however, 34-13 against the money line at home when the total is 7.5 or less over the past three seasons.

Adam Wainwright is starting this game for the Cardinals and he looked excellent in his last trip to the mound, throwing eight innings of one-run ball against the Brewers on Sep. 10. Wainwright struck out seven betters in that game and has now allowed three or fewer earned runs in four of his past five starts. If he can turn in a quality start on Thursday then the Cardinals just might find a way to win this game. Offensively, 1B Matt Adams (.245, 14 HR, 49 RBI) and C Yadier Molina (.290, 7 HR, 47 RBI) should have some success in this one. Both guys have gotten the best of Cueto in their careers as Adams is 6-for-16 with a double and a homer against him and Molina is an even better 10-for-39 with two doubles, two homers and eight RBI. The Cardinals will need runs to come from somewhere and it’d be huge if the two of them are driving in runs in this one.

The Giants desperately need a victory on Thursday and Johnny Cueto will be the guy tasked with shutting down the Cardinals in this one. The righty has been remarkable all season, and he has allowed two or fewer earned runs in four of his past five starts. He also happened to have dominated this Cardinals team in his last meeting with them, allowing no earned runs in six innings of work on Jun. 3. Another performance like that would likely result in a Giants victory. The hitters to watch out for in this lineup are going to be OFs Angel Pagan (.275, 11 HR, 47 RBI) and Hunter Pence (.296, 11 HR, 50 RBI). The two of them are a combined 22-for-69 with six doubles, two homers and eight RBI against Wainwright in their careers. The Giants need somebody to spark this offense and will be hoping that Pagan and Pence can get to Wainwright once again in this one.


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