Cardinals Facing Long Odds Despite 16-Game Winning Streak

By Kenneth Cross in Baseball —
3 Min. Read

St Louis Cardinals Field Background

  • Cardinals ready to lock down wildcard
  • Oddmakers calling Redbirds a long shot in World Series and NL pennant
  • Hitting attack, challenging pitchers invigorate 16-game winning streak

The St. Louis Cardinals have rode a 16-game winning streak into a potential lock of the second NL wild card this evening when they host the Milwaukee Brewers in the first game of a three-game set at Busch Stadium.

The oddsmakers, though, are still not confident in the Cardinals, who have the longest September winning streak since the 1935 Chicago Cubs reeled off 21 wins in a row. St. Louis still has only the tenth best odds to win the World Series as the Redbirds currently are catching (+2500).

That pales in comparison to the beginning of the month of September when St. Louis sat at (+15000) and were 13 games behind the Brewers for the NL Central lead. Then, on Sept. 17, some MLB sportsbooks had the Cards listed at (+18000).

As it stands today, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the favorite to win back-to-back World Championships in gathering (+340) while the Houston Astros are sitting at (+450) with the Brewers in at (+700).

Please Note:
The Chicago White Sox are becoming more popular as former Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa’s squad is receiving (+750). Tampa Bay (+800), San Francisco (+850), the New York Yankees (+1200), Atlanta (+1400) and the Boston Red Sox (+2200) all have a better shot, according to the oddsmakers than the Cardinals.

St. Louis is seen in some spots with (+2000), which is tied for ninth with the Red Sox.

Nationally Known

The heat in the National League race is different for St. Louis as the Cardinals’ (+1200) number is fifth among the NL competitors.

At the beginning of September, St. Louis was getting odds at only (+3500).
  • LA is leading the National League at (+180) odds to win the pennant while the Brewers (+275), Giants (+330) and Braves (+600) are all catching better numbers.
  • St. Louis is also seen in some places at (+1000) to win the NL as the Dodgers odds push up to (+160) while San Francisco and Milwaukee catch (+350) with the Braves at (+800).
As the season began:
The Cardinals were a solid pick to challenge and potentially win the NL Central as they started at (+110); however, they went 9-17 in June as they lost nine of their first 11 games in the month and fell all the way to (+1200) at the beginning of July.

Red Rage

Three weeks ago before the 16-game win streak started, the Redbirds had a 6.3 percent chance to makes the playoffs while the Cincinnati Reds were at 56.4 percent. On Aug. 8, St. Louis fell one game below .500 and their chances to make the playoffs were less than three percent.

There are many reasons why the Cardinals have flown north in the standings as they are sitting at 87-69 after sporting a 69-68 mark after a loss to the Dodgers on Sept. 7.

During the streak, the Cardinals have hit 31 home runs and have slugged at a .531 percentage. Also the pitching staff has been baffling batters with a 48.3 as the pitchers are throwing strikes and not pitching around batters in trying to fool them on the corners as much.

Also, in the last 15 days, the St. Louis pitching staff has a 3.12 ERA which is tied for third in the majors as they have allowed batters only a .226 average in that time period.

In the Cards

The Cardinals open the series with the Brewers at (-115) on the moneyline as Milwaukee is set at (-105) as Brandon Woodruff (9-10, 2.52 ERA) faces Adam Wainwright (16-7, 3.05 ERA). The series favorites see the Brewers standing at (-105) with the Cardinals posting (-115).

Please Note:
While the Dodgers vs. the Astros is the likely World Series matchup and is garnering (+750) odds, the Cardinals are the least likely team to participate in the World Series as a potential matchup between St. Louis and the Astros is coming off at (+4000).

A potential World Series with Tampa Bay has the next best odds for St. Louis at (+5000).

Sub Categories:
MLB
All Tags:
Baseball, baseball betting, mlb, mlb betting, mlb betting predictions, St Louis Cardinals
Kenneth Cross / Author

Kenneth Cross is a new entry to The Sports Geek staff as he has 25 years of experience in print, broadcast, and internet sports journalism. Cross is a lover of all sports, but college basketball is his passion. He estimates that he has seen around 1,500 college basketball games - live and in-person - and hopes that grows this season. If you listen to Radio, you have likely heard him on Sundays covering the Carolina Panthers for some 20 years. Now in Tampa Bay, he works as a national radio correspondent.

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