The St. Louis Cardinals are 9-3 straight up and 7-5 against the spread in their last 12 games against the Atlanta Braves. The Cardinals hope to continue that string of success this Friday night when they host the Braves in the first game of a three-game series in St. Louis.
Braves vs. Cardinals odds 2018: Series opener has St. Louis favored on betting lines
The St. Louis Cardinals host the Atlanta Braves in a battle between two dark horse NL contenders on Friday night, with the sportsbooks siding with the Cards.
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St. Louis is a -145 home favorite in the opener at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Miles Mikolas takes the mound for the home team squaring off against Julio Teheran and the Braves at +135.
Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals
When: Friday, June 29, 8:15 p.m. ET
Where: New Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
Betting Line / Total: St. Louis -145 / 8.5 Runs
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals continue to stay in the NL wild card race with their excellent starting pitching. Before losing 5-1 to the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday, St. Louis had won each of its previous four games and given up two runs or less in each of its last five games.
With an ERA of 3.37, the Cardinals have the best ERA among starting pitchers in the National League and are second only to the Houston Astros for the top spot in the MLB.
Mikolas had an unimpressive run in the majors back in 2012 through 2014, but he has been nothing short of excellent in his return to the bigs this year. Mikolas owns a 2.69 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP through his first 15 starts, leading the Cardinals to a 10-5 record over that stretch.
Atlanta Braves
Mikolas will face a tough opponent on Friday in the Braves, who own the best offense in the National League averaging 4.95 runs per game. Even while in the midst of a current 2-5 slump, the offense has continued to play at a high level averaging 5.14 runs per game over those seven games.
Julio Teheran has carried his 2017 struggles into 2018 and the Braves have lost four of his last five starts.
Friday night’s total is set at 8.5 runs. The OVER is 10-2 in the last 12 meetings between the Braves and Cardinals according to the OddsShark MLB Database.
Atlanta will try to hold on to its slim lead in the NL East while St. Louis hopes to gain ground in the NL Central. Over the weekend, Luke Weaver will face a currently undecided Atlanta starter on Saturday and John Gant will take on staff ace Mike Foltynewicz in Sunday’s series finale.
For more odds information, betting picks and a breakdown of this week’s top sports betting news check out the OddsShark podcast with Jon Campbell and Andrew Avery. Subscribe on iTunes or listen to it at OddsShark.libsyn.com.
