It took 46 games and 11 series, but the New York Mets finally came out on the short end of a series after dropping two of three to the Mariners at Citi Field over the weekend. Now the Mets host a St. Louis Cardinals squad that just tallied 20 runs in consecutive home victories over the Giants.
What’s more, New York is forced to turn to a relief pitcher for a spot start in Tuesday’s opener of a doubleheader, which was scheduled after Monday’s contest was rained out. St. Louis, on the other hand, gives the ball to a veteran right-hander who has allowed only seven runs in more than 42 innings this season. And yet, Cardinals vs Mets odds reveal New York as a slight home favorite Tuesday afternoon. The Mets are also a slim chalk in the nightcap, when they will face a former teammate on the mound.
Props.com breaks down Cardinals vs Mets odds and betting action for Tuesday’s doubleheader, which begins what is now a four-game, three-day series.
Odds via DraftKings and updated as of 12:25 p.m. ET on May 17.
- Huge Selection of Sports
- 20+ States
- Top-Rated App
St. Louis Cardinals (19-15) vs New York Mets (23-13)
GAME 1
First Pitch/TV: 3:10 p.m. ET/MLB Network & MLB.TV
Moneyline: Mets -115/Cardinals -105
Runline: Mets -1.5 (+170)/Cardinals +1.5 (-200)
Total: 8.5 (Over -105/Under -115)
Pitching matchup: RHP Miles Mikolas (5-2, 1.49 ERA, 0.94 WHIP) vs RHP Trevor Williams (0-2, 5.73 ERA, 1.64 WHIP)
GAME 2
First Pitch/TV: 7:10 p.m. ET/MLB Network & MLB.TV
Moneyline: Mets -130/Cardinals +110
Runline: Mets -1.5 (+155)/Cardinals +1.5 (-180)
Total: 8 (Over +100/Under -120)
Pitching matchup: LHP Steven Matz (3-3, 6.40 ERA, 1.52 WHIP) vs RHP Taijuan Walker (1-0, 3.00 ERA, 1.06 WHIP)
Season series: New York took two of three in St. Louis from April 25-27. The Cardinals’ 10-5 victory in the series finale ended a seven-game winning streak by the road team in this rivalry.
Did you know: Entering Tuesday’s game, Cardinals 3B Nolan Arenado and Mets 1B Pete Alonso each have eight home runs and 29 RBI. Arenado has two more hits (39-37) and six more doubles (12-6), but Alonso has scored five more runs (21-16).
About the Cardinals
Hits & Misses: St. Louis followed a 1-5 slump with consecutive victories over the Giants this past weekend. After a 4-0 whitewash Saturday, the Cardinals raced out to an 11-0 lead Sunday night en route to a 15-6 blowout. San Francisco scored four of its runs in the ninth off future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, who took the mound for the first time in his 22-year MLB career. St. Louis has won three straight games just once this season, defeating the Royals (once) and Giants (twice) from May 4-6. The Redbirds are in second place in the NL Central, 2.5 games behind Milwaukee.
Mikolas vs New York: Mikolas has consistently delivered this season, allowing two runs or fewer in each of his seven starts. In all, he’s surrendered just seven runs, 32 hits and eight walks with 31 strikeouts in 42.1 innings. On Wednesday, the right-hander pitched the Cardinals to a 10-1 home victory over the Orioles, allowing the one run on four hits and one walk in seven innings. St. Louis is 5-2 behind Mikolas this season, including 3-0 on the road. Those three road victories were by a combined margin of 19-2. Mikolas dominated the Mets on April 25, yielding four hits and a walk in seven shutout innings. However, the Cardinals blew a 2-0 lead in the ninth, losing 5-2. In his only other start against New York, the 33-year-old Florida native gave up two runs in eight innings of a 10-2 home win in April 2019.
Matz vs New York: Matz was drafted by the Mets and spent his first six MLB seasons with the franchise, going 31-41 with a 4.35 ERA. After posting the best numbers of his career with Toronto last year (14-7, 3.82 ERA), the southpaw signed with St. Louis as a free agent. It’s been a rocky start so far, as Matz has allowed 19 runs in three of his starts and four runs in his other four outings. One of his poor performances came against the Mets at home on April 27, when the 30-year-old New York native yielded four runs on six hits and two walks in four innings, though the Cardinals pulled out a 10-5 victory. St. Louis is 4-3 in Matz’s seven starts, including 2-1 on the road. The Under is 4-2 in Matz’s last six trips to the bump.
Key injuries: None.
About the Mets
Hits & Misses: New York blew a 5-4 lead midway through Sunday’s home game against Seattle, then nearly rallied from an 8-5 ninth-inning deficit. However, after the Mets plated two runs, Alonso struck out with the bases loaded to close out an 8-7 defeat. With that, New York dropped two of three to the Mariners, suffering its first series loss of the season. Going back to a 10-5 loss to cap a three-game series in St. Louis on April 27, the Mets have been treading water with a 9-8 record (5-5 at home). Still, manager Buck Showalter’s club has the biggest division lead in MLB, 5.5 games ahead of second-place Philadelphia.
Williams vs St. Louis: Primarily a relief pitcher, Williams will take the mound Monday in place of scheduled starter Tylor Megill, who has hit the injured list. In his only previous start this season on April 23 at Arizona, Williams surrendered four runs on seven hits in just two innings (62 pitches). The right-hander was roughed up again in his ensuing outing against the Braves at home on May 4 (three runs in 3.2 innings of relief). However, Williams was sharp out of the bullpen Wednesday at Washington, scattering two hits and a walk in 3.2 mop-up innings, as New York lost 8-3. Williams has a lengthy history against St. Louis, mostly from his time with the Pirates. In 19 games (14 starts), the former second-round pick from Arizona State is 4-6 with a 5.64 ERA. The Mets are 7-3 the last 10 times they’ve faced Williams.
Walker vs St. Louis: On April 11, Walker departed his season debut after just two innings because of an injury. He returned April 30 and dominated the Phillies, allowing just two hits and two walks in five scoreless innings, but New York lost 4-1 at home. The right-hander faced the Phillies again on May 5, this time in Philadelphia, and he got torched for seven runs (six earned) in four innings. But New York scored seven runs in the ninth inning to get Walker off the hook in an 8-7 victory. In his most recent outing Thursday, the 29-year-old turned in seven shutout innings, yielding just three hits and a walk in a 4-1 victory at Washington. He’s 1-1 with a 2.52 ERA in four career starts against St. Louis, with the Under cashing in three of those four contests.
Key injuries: Megill landed on the IL this weekend with biceps inflammation in his right (pitching) arm and is out indefinitely. C James McCann had surgery on his broken left wrist and will be out for an estimated six weeks.
Notable Trends
- STL is 20-8 in its last 28 road games (9-7 this season)
- STL is 13-5 in its last 18 series openers
- NYM are on runs of 23-11 as a favorite, 7-2 in series openers and 14-2 after a loss
- Over/Under has alternated in STL’s last six games (last game: Over)
- Over is 6-2 in NYM’s last eight at home
- STL is 4-0 in its last four games at Citi Field
- Over is 15-5-2 in the last 22 series meetings (2-1 this season)
Cardinals Vs Mets Odds and Action
GAME 2
UPDATE 6:30 P.M. ET TUESDAY: After New York took Game 1 of the doubleheader 3-1, there has been no change to moneyline, runline or total for the nightcap. With about 45 minutes until first pitch, it’s still Mets -130/Cardinals +100 on the moneyline; Mets (-1.5) +155/Cardinals (+1.5) -180 on the runline and 8/Under -120 on the total.
New York is taking 74% of moneyline bets and 63% of moneyline dollars. There’s two-way action on the run line at 63% tickets on St. Louis/74% money on New York. Ticket count (75%) and cash (90%) are both heavy to the Over.
UPDATE 12:25 P.M. ET TUESDAY: DraftKings currently has the Mets as a -130 favorite for the nightcap of the doubleheader, with St. Louis at +110. The total is sitting at 8/Under -120.
GAME 1
UPDATE 12:25 P.M. ET TUESDAY: Following Monday’s rainout, New York returned to DraftKings’ MLB odds board a little more than an hour ago as a -115 favorite, with St. Louis at -105. Within 45 minutes, the moneyline shot out to Mets -125/Cardinals +105 favorite before returning to the opening odds mere moments ago. The total has moved from an opener of 8.5/Under -120 to 8/Over -120 and back to 8.5, this time with juice at Under -115/Over -105.
