Underperforming Offenses Should Lead To Low Score

Cardinals vs. Mets, 7:10 ET

What do you have when you get two underperforming teams facing each other? Well, hopefully, you get a battle that shows the best of them. In this matchup, we see two teams that are underperforming to this point in the season, and they both would like to make a statement against each other. Tonight, the Cardinals take on the Mets.

The Cardinals have been the worst of the worst this year. I would love to tell you that my futures are worth more than the paper they are printed on, but at this point, it is not really likely. I thought they would win the division, thought they would go over their win total, and generally had a lot of faith in them. That thought has blown up in my face. But, today they look to steal a win with Miles Mikolas on the hill. I have been a staunch supporter of Mikolas for years now, and this is one year where I can say he has not performed well for me. He has pitched better on the road than at home this year with a 3.00 ERA. He's pitching okay overall over his past few starts. He had a 1.89 ERA in May. His most recent start saw him allow five earned runs, but it was a home start. His past four road starts have seen him go 22.1 innings and allowed just four earned runs. He has a very successful track record against the Mets hitters.

Miles Mikolas #39 of the St. Louis Cardinals takes on the Mets. (Photo by Joe Puetz/Getty Images)

The Mets aren't quite the level of the Cardinals in terms of disappointment, but they are still disappointing nonetheless. They were expected to be one of the best teams in the National League. Unfortunately, they stole a unit from me the other day in the Verlander vs. Cole matchup where Verlander looked like the pitcher that he was last year. Still, they haven't been playing great lately. Tonight, they have Tylor Megill going for them. Megill comes in with a 5.14 ERA overall, but he has a 3.03 ERA in home starts. He also is coming off of a bad start where he allowed seven earned runs to the Pirates. However, his last four home starts have seen him go 21.2 innings and he has allowed just eight earned runs. Cardinals hitters haven't seen much of him but they have three hits in ten at-bats.

I'm going to skip the side in this one (though I do lean to the Cardinals in a coin flip). I will take the under 9 runs in this game. I think that the Cardinals should win through five innings and then the Mets could win the game if they get to the Cardinals bullpen. Hopefully, no matter what happens, 8 or fewer runs are scored.

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