This is a 1* Free Play on the St. Louis Cardinals.

I think we are getting the Cardinals at a decent price as they have dominated this series in front of the home town crowd. The visiting Padres send Eric Stults (5-13, 4.76 ERA) to the bump as they try to continue their hot streak; Stults is coming off a rare good start where he allowed one run off seven hits over 6 1/3 innings. Note though that the left-hander has allowed six earned runs in 11 1/3 innings lifetime against the Redbirds. Keep in mind as well that Stults has struggled on the road this season with a 1-9 record and a poor 5.37 ERA. St. Louis will send veteran right-hander John Lackey (12-8, 3.98 ERA) to the hill as he looks to bounce back off one of his worst starts of his career; Lackey is a veteran, he's performed well in these spots in the past, a date vs. the inconsistent Friars is just what the doctor ordered to get untracked in my opinion. As good as the Padres have been at home of late, note that they have won just one of their last six games in St. Louis the last three seasons. Furthermore, San Diego is 23-35 overall away from friendly confines in 2014. St. Louis has always enjoyed a home field advantage, and true to form is 33-25 at Busch this year. Additionally, San Diego is just 4-8 as a road underdog in the +120 to +150 range this season. Keep an eye out for Cardinals' slugger Matt Carpenter who owns a career .405 average in 13 career meetings with San Diego. Consider the home side.

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