St. Louis Cardinals vs San Diego Padres Picks and Predictions August 29th 2024

There does appear to be a chance of rain in St. Louis on Thursday, where the forecasted temperature is 81 degrees. The Padres and Cardinals are facing off at 2:15 PM ET at Busch Stadium. San Diego is 76-59, while the Cardinals are 66-67. Sonny Gray will start for the Cardinals, and the Padres are starting Michael King.

San Diego is the slight money line favorite, and the over/under line is currently at 8 runs. The game will be televised on BSMW, and the Cardinals are 3rd in the NL Central, while the Padres are 3rd in the NL West.

San Diego vs. St. Louis Key Information

Right-hander Michael King gets the start for the Padres today as he faces the Cardinals on the road. He has made 25 starts this season and has a record of 11-7 with a 3.14 ERA. King’s WHIP for the season is currently 1.18. In his 25 starts, he has turned in 12 quality starts and is averaging 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings. King’s last outing came on August 24th, where he took the loss, giving up five runs in five innings of work. Before that, he had won two straight starts.

San Diego has the league’s top batting average this season at .266 and is also the top home run hitting team in the league. Overall, they are averaging 4.8 runs per game, which is 11th in the league. The Padres have been even better on the road, averaging 5.1 runs per contest.

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Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado have been a great 1-2 punch for the Padres this season, as Profar leads the team with 80 RBIs and Machado is right behind him at 79. Machado’s 22 homers are the most on the team and 15th in the league, while Profar is 2nd on the team with 21 homers. Machado is also on a four-game hitting streak, during which he has gone 10/29 with two homers.

Sonny Gray will be looking to bounce back from a rough outing as he gets the start for the Cardinals today. Against the Twins on August 24th, he took the loss and gave up five earned runs in six innings of work. Looking back over his last three starts, Gray has given up at least two homers in each outing. His record for the season is 11-9, and he has an ERA of 4.07. Opponents are batting .222 off Gray this season. Out of his 24 starts, Gray has 10 quality starts and is averaging 11.12 strikeouts per nine innings.

St. Louis comes into today’s game with the 24th ranked scoring offense in the league, averaging 4.1 runs per game. They have been even worse on the road, averaging just 3.9 runs per game. As a team, the Cardinals are batting .247, which is the 8th best mark in the league. They also have the 19th slugging percentage in the league and are 20th in isolated power.

Over his last eight games, Masyn Winn is hitting .441 for the Cardinals, but he has not gone deep during this stretch. Winn is 3rd on the team with 46 RBIs and is batting .286 for the season. Alec Burleson and Paul Goldschmidt are the team’s top home run hitters, with 21 and 20 homers, respectively. Goldschmidt has gone deep in one of his last six games and is batting just .235 for the season.

Our lean for a money-line pick would be to take the Padres to come out on top on the road vs. the Cardinals. We have this as the 2nd lowest-scoring game of the day, but with the line sitting at 8 runs, we would lean towards taking the over. Looking at today’s starters, we have Michael King finishing with more strikeouts than Sonny Gray for the Cardinals.

Manny Machado, Padres Aim for Series Victory Over Cardinals

San Diego Padres star Manny Machado is steadily returning to his top form, showcasing his abilities as the season progresses. In the first three games of the Padres’ four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Machado has been on fire, going 5-for-13 with two doubles, two homers, five RBIs, and four runs. The series concludes on Thursday afternoon, with the Padres looking to secure a victory.

San Diego started the series strong with a 7-4 win on Monday and a 7-5 win on Tuesday, but the Cardinals bounced back on Wednesday with a 4-3 victory. Machado’s resurgence has been crucial for the Padres, particularly as he continues to recover from offseason elbow surgery. His performance in August has been impressive, with the third baseman batting .301, hitting nine doubles, six homers, and driving in 21 runs, boasting a .947 OPS.

“My body’s just feeling better,” Machado said. “Every day it continues to get better. I guess I like the heat a little bit, too.”

Machado’s contributions have been essential in setting the tone for an offense that has had to compensate for the absence of injured hitters Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ha-Seong Kim. The Padres have applied consistent pressure in the series, particularly in the first two games.

“This team’s a grinding team,” Machado added. “We don’t strike out much. We put the ball in play. We’re aggressive when we need to be aggressive, but you can’t throw it down the zone because we could do some damage on it, too.”

Cardinals’ Goldschmidt and Arenado Respond

For the Cardinals, Paul Goldschmidt has been heating up in the series, going 7-for-11 (.636) with a homer and four RBIs. St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol noted Goldschmidt’s improving form:

“He’s looking better with each at-bat,” Marmol said. “That’s encouraging.”

Nolan Arenado also played a crucial role in Wednesday’s victory, going 2-for-5 and driving in the winning run with a two-out single in the ninth inning. The Cardinals will be looking to build on this momentum as they seek to split the series.

Pitching Matchup: King vs. Gray

The Padres will send Michael King (11-7, 3.14 ERA) to the mound for the series finale. King is coming off a 7-1 loss to the New York Mets on Saturday, where he allowed five runs (only one earned) on three hits over five innings. Despite the loss, King struck out seven batters and walked three. His only previous appearance against the Cardinals came last season with the New York Yankees, where he threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief and earned the win.

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The Cardinals will counter with Sonny Gray (11-9, 4.07 ERA), who is looking to bounce back from a tough 6-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday. Gray allowed five runs on seven hits, including two homers, over six innings. Despite striking out seven and walking two, Gray has struggled recently, losing three consecutive starts.

“The frustrating thing for me is it just seems to be the same game over and over and over,” Gray said. “Put up some zeros and then have the big innings. Give up three or four — two, three, four in one inning and then throw the ball well after that. It’s just zero, zero, zero, five, zero, zero. That’s the frustrating part.”

After allowing only eight homers in 184 innings last year, Gray has already given up 20 in 141 2/3 innings this season. He has also allowed five or more earned runs seven times. Gray was on the 15-day injured list when the Cardinals faced the Padres in early April, but he holds a 2-0 record with a 1.64 ERA in two career starts against San Diego.