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St. Louis squares-off against Verlander and the Tigers this Tuesday night

St. Louis lost two of three this past weekend against Kansas City to fall to 5-5 in its last 10 games. It is currently five games behind Cincinnati in the NL Central with an overall record of 34-33.The Cardinals are 17-16 at home this season and an even .500 on the road at 17-17. The total has stayed ‘under’ in eight of their last nine games.

Consistency at the plate continues to be an issue for St. Louis. Over this 10-game stretch, it has pounded-out 32 runs in five wins while posting just nine runs in the five losses. It will send Lance Lynn to the mound to try and gain the early edge in this series. The right-hander is 10-2 on the year with a 2.42 ERA. He has given-up three or less earned runs in nine of his last 10 starts.

Detroit continues to battle for position in the competitive AL Central. It is 7-3 in its last 10 games and has closed the gap with Chicago for the lead in the division to just three games. The Tigers took two of three from Colorado this past weekend for their third-straight series win. They are still under .500 on the year at 32-34 overall and 15-17 at home. The total stayed ‘under’ in their last two games but had gone ‘over’ in six of their previous eight.

The Tigers’ lineup has been very productive at getting runners across the plate this season with an average of 4.42 runs per game behind a team batting average of .267, which is ranked third in the AL. Pitching has been an issue at times as Detroit is ranked 11 in the AL with a 4.13 team ERA.

Fortunately it will have its ace, Justin Verlander on the mound in this one. The right-hander is 6-4 with a 2.66 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 14 starts this year. He snapped a rare three-game losing streak this past Thursday by holding the Cubs to just two earned runs on five hits to pick-up the win. Lifetime against St. Louis, he is 2-1 with a 5.50 ERA.

Prediction

It is never wise to bet against Verlander even though the reining AL MVP has not had his best stuff over the last month or so. The Cardinals have just one win in their last seven games in Detroit making a victory on Tuesday night even less probable. Detroit 4 St. Louis 2