Athletics vs Cardinals Prediction - MLB Picks 8/16/23

St. Louis Cardinals (53-66) vs Oakland Athletics (33-86)

Game Info: Wednesday, August 16, 2023 at 6:45 pm (Busch Stadium)

Matthew Liberatore (2-4) (5.72) vs Paul Blackburn (2-3) (4.52)

Betting Odds: St. Louis Cardinals -175 / Oakland Athletics +161 --- Over/Under: 9.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds

The Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals face off on Wednesday in an MLB showdown at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals have won the first two games of this series.

A’s Continue to Blow Leads

The Oakland Athletics Continue to blow leads, and they need to get better bullpen pitching. On Sunday against the Washington Nationals, they gave up six runs in the 9th inning and that led to the one run defeat. On Monday they gave up four runs in the 7th inning and that led to the defeat. With the way the bullpen has been, there really isn’t way to back them, unless you were to back them in the first five innings. The A’s are averaging 3.57 runs while their pitching is giving up 5.98 runs per game. The offense is ranked 30th and the pitching is ranked 30th. On the mound for the A’s is Paul Blackburn who sits with a 2-3 record and an ERA of 4.52.

Athletics Betting Preview

The Athletics have lost each of their last nine road games against National League opponents.
The Athletics have failed to cover the run line each of their last four night games against NL Central opponents that held a losing record.
The Athletics have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last three games against NL Central opponents.
The Athletics have led after 5 innings in seven of their last 10 games as underdogs against NL Central opponents.
The Athletics have led after 7 innings in five of their last seven games as road underdogs against NL Central opponents.

Cardinals Pitching Hasn’t Been Good Enough

The biggest thing that has hurt this Cardinals team all season has been the pitching and they need to see some of the life out of the pitching through the end of the season. In the first game of the series the pitching wasn’t good enough and it took some strong offense to secure the victory. The Cardinals are averaging 4.67 runs while their pitching is giving up 4.91 runs per game. The offense is ranked 11th while the pitching is ranked 22nd. On the mound for the Cardinals will be Matthew Liberatore and he sits with a 2-4 record and an ERA of 5.72.

Cardinals Betting Preview

The Cardinals have lost nine of their last 13 games as favorites after playing the previous day.
The home team has covered the run line in each of the last four games between the Athletics and Cardinals.
The Cardinals have led after 3 innings in each of their last three games.
The Cardinals have trailed after 5 innings in eight of their last 12 games as favorites against AL West opponents.
The Cardinals have led after 7 innings in each of their last five Wednesday night home games.

Athletics vs Cardinals Facts

The St. Louis Cardinals ranks 29th in the league for hits allowed this season (1125).
The St. Louis Cardinals ranks 4th in the league for on-base percentage this season (.333).
The Oakland Athletics ranks 30th in the league for RBI's this season (412).
The Oakland Athletics ranks 30th in the league for batting average this season (.222).

Shane’s Free Pick

This game is going to be high scoring, much like Game 1 of this series. Liberatore has been awful this season sitting with an ERA of 5.72 and he’s going to be lit up in this game. Blackburn hasn’t been exactly lights out, and the Cardinals should also find plenty of success scoring here. This game could finish with 15 or 16 runs, and should be a pretty comfortable victory. Back the over to cash here.