This is an 8* play on OAKLAND

While Interleague Play may seemingly lack the importance of a division game, don't tell that to either St. Louis or Oakland, both of whom need a big weekend. This is just a two-game series as the teams had Friday off. St. Louis has a 1/2 game lead in the NL Central after they won for us Thursday, against the Cubs. Oakland is 8.5 games back of Houston in the AL West, but still very viable in the Wild Card race where they trail Tampa Bay by a 1/2 game for the second spot. We side with the A's on Saturday as they send Michael Fiers to the mound. Fiers has been very good at home this year, owning a 1.95 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in 11 starts, eight of which have resulted in Oakland victories. As we discussed in the Chicago-St. Louis series, the Cardinals are not nearly as good on the road and that's reflected in a lot of the numbers from their starting pitchers. Saturday's starter Dakota Hudson has a 1.56 WHIP in 11 road games and hasn't exactly pitched well of late. He gave up three home runs in his last start, which lasted only four innings and that was at home. St. Louis lost that game 6-2, part of a 7-9 record vs. American League teams this season. Also interesting is that the Cards are just 1-3 off a shutout win this year and 9-15 in this situation the last three years. They blanked the Cubs Thursday, 4-0. Play on OAKLAND

AAA