NL Wild Card Game Cardinals vs. Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers won 106 games … yet have to play in the National League Wild-Card Game on Wednesday against a St. Louis Cardinals club that was as hot as anyone to close the regular season. The winner gets the Giants in the NLDS, and the Dodgers are heavy favorites on the MLB odds.

How to Bet Cardinals at Dodgers MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Wednesday, 8:10 PM ET
Where: Dodger Stadium
Probable pitchers (away/home): Adam Wainwright/Max Scherzer
TV: TBS
Stream/gameday audio: TBS app
Opening MLB Lines: Dodgers -207, Cardinals +187 (total 7.5)

Why Bet on St. Louis?

St. Louis has qualified for the postseason in each of Mike Shildt’s three full seasons as manager, 15 of 22 times this century, and 16 seasons since the DeWitt ownership group purchased the Cardinals in 1996.

Finally fully healthy in the final two months of the season, the Cardinals took off and displayed the offense they believed was within them all season long. Paul Goldschmidt has been on fire with a second-half OPS over 1.000 while hitting .391 with seven home runs during the team’s 17-game winning streak in September. The only major question is whether Shildt goes with Paul DeJong in place of Edmundo Sosa at shortstop.

Shildt said that the plan is indeed for the Cardinals to carry ace Jack Flaherty on the Wild Card roster and have him available out of the bullpen. Flaherty has not pitched more than one inning, maxing out at 19 pitches, in three outings since his return from the injured list.

Adam Wainwright was named to start this game. It will be his 4th start in a potential elimination game (most all-time in franchise history), while the 40-year-old becomes the 2nd-oldest

Cardinal to start a postseason game, behind only 41-year-old Grover Pete Alexander (G2 of 1928 WS), and the 3rd-oldest pitcher in MLB postseason history to start a winner-take-all game, behind Roger Clemens (41 in 2003 for NYY and 42 in 2004 for HOU).

In 32 starts this year, he pitched to a 17-7 record, 3.05 ERA/127 ERA+ and a 3.48 K/BB ratio. As well, his 206 1/3 innings rank second in the National League. Wainwright’s current WAR of 3.5 is his highest figure since 2014. His contract was up but the Cards gave him a one-year, $17.5 million deal for 2022.

Wainwright has made 17 career appearances vs. the Dodgers with St. Louis 12-5 in those games. He will be making his 1st start at Dodger Stadium since 6/26/14, a 1-0 loss in complete game effort. His lone career regular season win at Dodger Stadium was on 5/23/08 (2-1).

Wainwright has pitched 6.0 or more innings in his last 13 regular season starts (12 quality) vs. the Dodgers, 2nd-longest in MLB among active pitchers behind Max Scherzer (13). He made three career postseason starts vs. the Dodgers: NLDS Game 2 in 2009, NLCS Game 3 in 2013 & NLDS Game 1 in 2014. All three starts were at Dodger Stadium. The Cardinals were 1-2 in those games, winning 10-9 in 2014.

Why Bet on LA Dodgers?

After winning the World Series in 2020, the Dodgers look to become the first team to repeat since the 1998-2000 Yankees. Los Angeles tied a franchise record with 106 wins and has won a franchise-record 15 consecutive games at Dodger Stadium.

Those 106 wins were more than any wild card team in the 27-year history of wild card teams. Since the advent of two wild card teams and a wild card game in each league in 2012, the largest gap in records between wild card opponents was six games. The Dodgers finished 16 games better than St. Louis.

The Dodgers are not expected to have All-Star slugger Max Muncy for the game after he injured his left elbow in Sunday’s regular-season finale. Muncy left the game in the top of the third after a collision at first base with Brewers runner Jace Peterson. The injury occurred as Muncy reached to catch a Will Smith throw that was slightly off the line.

Muncy has been the team’s best and most consistent hitter this season. He leads the club with a career-high 36 homers. Muncy is also the Dodgers’ best defensive option at first base. Without Muncy, the Dodgers could opt to go with Cody Bellinger at first base in order to add another left-handed bat and a solid option defensively. Starting Matt Beaty at first base and keeping Bellinger in center is also a possibility for the Dodgers, giving them two more left-handed hitters in the lineup.

It’s three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer on the mound. Scherzer (15-4) allowed six runs — five earned — on 11 hits and no walks with four strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the Padres on Wednesday. The 37-year-old right-hander ended the regular season with an excellent 2.46 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, and 236 strikeouts over 179 1/3 innings. Since joining the Dodgers via trade in late July, he is 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and an 89-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 68.1 innings.

Among the 123 pitchers with 100+ innings, Scherzer ranked 3rd in ERA, 2nd in SIERA, 3rd in strikeout percentage (34.1%), 2nd in strikeout/walk rate differential (28.9 percentage points) and 3rd in swinging strike rate (15.9%).

In seven previous trips to the playoffs, Scherzer has gone 7-5 with a 3.38 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 137 strikeouts in 112 innings, helping pitch the Washington Nationals to a World Series title in 2019.