San Francisco Giants vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 7/18/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: San Francisco Giants vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Sunday, July 18, 2021

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: Bally Sports Midwest

Odds/Point Spread: San Francisco (-117) St. Louis (-104)

Wade LeBlanc and the St. Louis Cardinals (44-47, 4th in NL Central) host the San Francisco Giants (58-32, 1st in NL West) at Busch Stadium on Sunday. The line on this game has the Giants priced at -117 and the Cardinals are at -104. The O/U opens at 8.5. The men taking the mound are Johnny Cueto and Wade LeBlanc.

San Francisco has a slugging rate of .437 and have been rung up 838 times, while drawing a walk on 349 occasions. They have accumulated 428 RBI's and 735 base knocks on the year, while their team batting average comes in at .245. The Giants have accrued 140 doubles as a team and have hit 135 baseballs out of the stadium. They have racked up 448 runs and have an on-base percentage of .329. As a team, the San Francisco Giants are earning 5.0 runs per outing, which puts them at 6th in MLB.

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Giants pitchers have relinquished 88 long balls in addition to 327 runs in total (2nd in baseball). They have walked 236 batters and their FIP sits at 3.66 as a unit over the course of the season. Their strikeout to walk ratio is 3.31 and the pitching staff has earned a collective WHIP of 1.12. The Giants are sitting with a team ERA of 3.25 on the campaign (2nd in baseball), and they have struck out 782 hitters.

The Giants relievers have accumulated a save rate of 66.0% and has entered the game in 113 save situations. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 80 base runners on the campaign and 41.3% of them earned a run for their team. Giants relief pitchers have entered the game with opponents on base 58 times in addition to having 96 appearances in high leverage situations. The Giants have dispatched 306 relief pitchers to the hill so far this year. The relief pitchers have recorded 61 holds so far this season (2nd in MLB). They have accumulated 33 saves this year and have blown 17 of their 50 save chances.

The Giants have converted 72.0% of balls in play into outs out of 7,215 innings on the field, which ranks them 2nd in MLB. The San Francisco Giants have 2,405 putouts this season, in addition to 821 assists and 40 errors. Their fielding percentage is holding at .988 which has them sitting 2nd in the majors, and have accumulated 517 double plays.

Cueto has taken the hill for 1,997 innings and has accumulated 1,677 K's in his MLB career. Cueto (134-95 career record) holds a FIP of 3.85 and he has faced 8,295 opposing batters during his time in the majors. His ERA is 3.44 (764 earned runs allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.201. He has conceded 1,829 base hits (8.2 hits per nine innings) and has had 571 free passes.

The Cardinals have a slugging percentage of .379 and they are scoring 3.96 runs per game (28th in the league). They have recorded 138 doubles, while taking a walk 270 times and putting up 360 runs. St. Louis has accounted for 95 home runs so far this season as well as 345 runs batted in. They have struck out on 734 instances (27th in MLB) and have notched a total of 689 base hits. The St. Louis Cardinals have accumulated a team OBP of .302 as well as a team batting average of .231 this season.

The Cardinals have a WHIP of 1.371 and have a FIP of 4.44 as a squad for the season. Their strikeout to walk ratio comes in at 1.78 (705 strikeouts against 396 walks). They have a ranking of 12th in MLB as a pitching staff in total hits relinquished with 687. They have yielded 80 dingers and they surrender 4.61 runs per 9 innings (15th in baseball). The St. Louis pitching staff have allowed 405 runs over the course of the season while holding an ERA of 4.27 (375 earned runs relinquished).

St. Louis bullpen pitchers hold an inherited score rate of 41.6% out of their 173 inherited runners. Their relief pitchers have come in 81 times in high leverage situations in addition to 100 occasions with runners on. Sitting with 76 save situations, the Cardinals have recorded 42 holds and 7 blown saves. They rank 1st in MLB with a save rate of 78.1%, and they have sent 309 relievers to the hill on the year. St. Louis has called on bullpen pitchers to enter the contest in 32 save opportunities and they have converted 25 saves.

In 7,113 innings on the diamond, the Cardinals have a efficiency on defense of 71.0% (6th in baseball). The St. Louis Cardinals have turned 69 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .984 (11th in baseball). The Cardinals have accrued 820 assists, 51 errors and have earned a total of 2,371 putouts over the course of the season.

LeBlanc (46-49 career record) is the owner of a 4.56 ERA while giving up 9.4 hits per nine innings. His K/BB ratio is 2.39 and he has gone up against 3,879 opposing hitters thus far in his career. He has surrendered 460 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.350 and having a FIP of 4.8. During his career, LeBlanc has surrendered 952 base hits and he has 658 K's in 908 frames.

Who will win tonight's baseball game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take St. Louis (-104)

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