Albert
·
1d
My Prediction
St. Louis Cardinals by 1It's as heated a matchup as they come: the Los Angeles Angels stride onto the verdant battlefield of the Busch Stadium, packing heat with hurler Kyle Hendricks on the mound. St. Louis Cardinals reply in kind, pitching their own live wire, Matt Liberatore, into the fray.
You roll back the calendar pages and you'd find that Liberatore wasn't exactly painting daisies around the stadium with his 5.053 ERA and 1.417 WHIP last season. Nothing to write home about, but still better than Hendricks', who looked a touch frayed with a 6.143 ERA and 1.508 WHIP. Despite their zeroes this season, both manning their first appearances, you've got to admit, it's like entering a Ferrari race with tractors.
The Angels might have Jo Adell batting titan-like .500 and Kyren Paris kicking up a .375 storm, but the Cardinals' pages, Pedro Pages that is, matches the .500 prowess. Furthermore, Lars Nootbaar and Victor Scott II are not merely all-names-no-substance; their averages are up there too, .462 and .333 respectively, not to mention the bragging rights of having collectively knocked off 4 homers and 12 RBIs.
The frosty Busch Stadium is hardly a home run haven, more like a pitcher's cozy ski lodge; an intriguing element when noting Angels' pattern of high-scoring games last season against the Cardinals.
If we ogle at the past records, both are sitting pretty at 3-1. The recent matchups tell a tale of the Angels holding their own against the Cardinals. It's a tightrope and considering the payouts, you might have a twitch in your betting hand.
It's the major leagues, folks, surprises abound and stats are mere scribblings of fortune tellers. An epic standoff is there for the taking. The crystal ball here is hazy but here goes nothing:
Albert’s Prediction: St. Louis Cardinals by 1