Cardinals And Brewers Can Light Up Scoreboard On Father's Day

Cardinals vs. Brewers, 2:10 ET

Let me start by wishing everyone out there a Happy Father's Day. When I was younger, my Dad wasn't a warm and bubbly person. He went to work, came home, ate, did some stuff on the computer, and kind of went to bed. He was the disciplinarian. It never felt like we were best friends, but he did tell me the best thing he ever did was have kids. As I've gotten older I've come to appreciate that he worked a job that he hated so he could make money for us and live a good life. Now that I'm a father, and dad, I can agree with him that my kids are my proudest accomplishment. This one is for the dads out there as the Cardinals take on the Brewers. 

The Cardinals are playing decent enough baseball this season. They don't have the division lead, and they might not ever get it. Their best path to the playoffs is likely to be the Wild Card, and thanks to the creation of the three spots for a Wild Card. St. Louis doesn't really do anything that blows you away, but they are a good hitting team, and their pitching is doing well enough. As a team, they have a batting average that is one of the top in the league. The pitching staff has a 3.98 ERA, but their team WHIP is just 1.28 and their opponent batting average is .255. That is a lot of traffic to allow on the base paths, even if they aren't giving up a ton of runs. Today they send out Miles Mikolas to the mound. Mikolas is 4-3 with a 4.48 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Those numbers are pretty much in line with the rest of the St. Louis staff, especially if you consider his road ERA which is 3.97. Having faced the Brewers consistently over the years, he has held their team to a .221 batting average in 113 at-bats.

Cardinals' starter Miles Mikolas against the Brewers at American Family Field in Milwaukee. (John Fisher/Getty Images)

The Brewers have been a bit fluky this season. Sometimes, they win a bunch of games in a row and look like one of the best teams in baseball. Other times they lose a bunch in a row and look like they have no chance to even sniff the playoffs. This is not a series that is going to make or break either team for the playoffs, however, you always want to beat up on the teams in the division. I like the Brewers resiliency and they kind of remind me a bit of the Rays franchise - finding a way to win despite limited resources. One thing they do is find good talent, like today's starter, Quinn Priester. Priester are 4-2 with a 3.65 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. He has been slightly worse at home than on the road, but most of that came from a bad game against the Cubs in early May. He has faced the Cardinals once this season and allowed five earned runs in five innings. The Cardinals are hitting .400 overall against the Brewers righty.

This is a game that probably favors the Brewers, but I do like Mikolas. Instead of backing either team on the moneyline, I am going to play the total. Both pitchers won't exit the game without the other team scoring some runs. There are some possibilities that the bullpen will also contribute to the total. Let's back the over in this one. 

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024