4.5* MLB POD - 13-6 This Post Season Guaranteed!

[Pick Bot]

Don't miss out on tonight's rebound MLB POD as we lost yesterday on a couple of questionable defensive plays by the Rangers, but today we bounce back as we have done many times this year. You won't want to miss out on my break down of the two starting pitchers tonight with excellent bullpens on both sides it's important to know who has a considerable edge on the mound to start the game.

Cardinals +115 (4.5* MLB POD)
We are on the dog again the wrong team is favored here. It's a bad break for the Rangers who just are starting the wrong pitcher in this game. I still think the Rangers will win this series so stay tuned for a series pick after this as the Rangers should be big dogs to come back from a 2-0 deficit.

Today it's Jaime Garcia who the Rangers have never even seen. Rangers saw 3 pitchers this year for the first time on the road and they struggled. Garcia is a bigger name than all these three of Zach Britton, Dan Duffy, and Brad Mills who combined pitched 18 innings and have a 2.00 ERA. Garcia is a mess on the road but at home he is a stud for whatever reason. He's got a 9-4 record at home with a 2.55 ERA and during night starts he's also been successful with a 2.95 ERA. Rangers were 3rd in the league vs. LHP in OPS during the regular season, but this post season they have a .561 OPS in 77 AB with a .195 average. Garcia is backed by a solid bullpen as we saw last night and I think the Cardinals just have a huge advantage at home forcing the Rangers to bat a pitcher. Rangers have not played well on the road in interleague play at all and I don't trust their pitcher vs. a good team. Colby Lewis is 7-17 in his last 24 road gs vs. a winning team.

Lewis road stats of an ERA 3.43 and a 9-5 record for 17 starts. So it looks on paper like the logical pitching choice since he had a 5.54 ERA at home, but wait a second let's break down the 17 starts because he's had a cake walk. Only 3 top 11 OPS teams vs. RHP has he faced on the road and the Cardinals are ranked 5th in OPS and #1 in the National League in OPS vs. RHP so these stats are relevant. IN those 3 starts he has just 13.1 IP and a 7.90 ERA. His other 14 road starts have been vs. opponents at the bottom of the league in hitting vs. RHP. The average rank is 23rd in OPS vs. RHP over those 14 starts due to facing the Mariners and A's on the road 6 times. The fact of the matter is his road starts are completely misleading. Right now the Cardinals are super hot with the bats .297 with 6.28 runs per 9 in their last 10 games vs. RHP and at home they score nearly 5 runs per 9 vs. RHP so they are a completely different team than they are against LHP where last night they got extremely lucky with their 2 hits that produced 3 RBI as they were both playable balls that should have been outs.

Cardinals are 36-16 in their last 52 vs. RH starters and Garcia is 17-4 in his last 21 vs. a winning team 11-1 at home vs. a winning team. Cardinals go up 2-0 when they had back to Texas.