MLB Betting – Can Struggling Mets Take Down Cardinals in St. Louis?

Two of the National League’s most popular franchises and two of its most successful franchises from the past few years will get together tonight for some Friday night baseball under the lights in what should be a competitive early-season matchup.

Things have gone smoothly for the St. Louis Cardinals so far on the season as they’ve jumped out to a 6-3 record, but the Mets are on the complete opposite of the spectrum at 3-6 so far this year.

It is no surprise for tonight then that the Cardinals are the MLB betting pick of most fans going into the game and the Mets are the underdog yet again.

Chris Carpenter, easily one of the Cardinals’ top pitchers, gets the nod against Oliver Perez for the Mets, and while Perez can be very solid at times, he’s not the safest pitcher to bet on because of his average-at-best velocity and other inconsistencies. But the Mets have the kind of offense that can make them a surprise MLB betting pick in certain games plus the intangibles of being the betting underdog as well going into tonight’s game.

New York Mets (Oliver Perez, L) at St. Louis Cardinals (Chris Carpenter, R)
8:15 pm, Busch Stadium, TV: FS-M

MLB betting odds:
Cardinals favored at -1 ½, Mets the underdog at +220 odds to -260 for Cardinals to win straight up

Both Perez and Carpenter will have a big impact on this game, and both have had fairly rough starts with Carpenter carrying an ERA in the high-5′s and Perez over 6 in the ERA department on the young season.

Carpenter is coming back from an injury-plagued past but there was much hope for him to turn it around this season and become the ace pitcher many believe he was destined to be after a strong run earlier in his career with the Cardinals.

There’s no doubt that Carpenter still has the stuff to get the job done as he has never been a power pitcher, and he can still throw his vast repertoire of breaking pitches with ease.

It’s been no surprise that Albert Pujols has again been tearing the cover off of the baseball for the betting favorite Cardinals as he has a .400 average going into tonight’s game for the defending NL Central Division Champions.

Pujols also has as much support in the lineup as he’s had in years.

The Mets’ lineup has been solid as well for the MLB betting pick underdogs but the pitching has let them down.

The pitching gap will be huge in tonight’s game as the betting favorite pick Cardinals get the job done by chasing Perez early and breaking this one open for an easy win.

MLB betting odds pick: Cardinals at -1 ½