The Houston Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals will meet on the field at Busch Stadium on Saturday in a battle of division rivals.
The Astros will pin their hopes on the pitching of ace righthander Roy Oswalt in this game. Oswalt has a 0-1 record and a 3.86 ERA this season.
Oswalt's opponent in this one will be Adam Wainwright. The Cardinals ace righthander has a 3.38 ERA to go along with a 0-0 record this season.
Oddsmakers currently have the Cardinals listed as 140-moneyline favorites versus the Astros, while the game's total has not yet been posted.
Ryan Ludwick homered and drove in two runs to help the Cardinals defeat the Astros 5-3 on Friday, as -155 favorites. The eight runs fell UNDER the posted over\/under (9).
Skip Schumaker had two hits and one RBI for the Cardinals. Joel Pineiro got the win, and Kyle McClellan earned his first save.
Carlos Lee went 3-for-4 at the plate with a solo home run for the Astros, who were +135 underdogs. Mike Hampton gave up three runs over five innings to suffer the loss.
Current streak:
Houston has lost 2 straight games.
St. Louis has won 2 straight games.
Team records:
Houston: 1-3 SU
St. Louis: 3-2 SU
Houston most recently:
When playing on Saturday are 4-6
Before playing St. Louis are 5-5
After playing St. Louis are 4-6
After a loss are 5-5<\/p>\n
St. Louis most recently:
When playing on Saturday are 6-4
Before playing Houston are 4-6
After playing Houston are 6-4
After a win are 7-3
A few trends to consider:
Houston is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
Houston is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games on the road
Houston is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
St. Louis is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Houston
St. Louis is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games at home
St. Louis is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games
Next up:
St. Louis home to Houston, Sunday, April 12<\/p>\n