The St. Louis Cardinals and the Houston Astros finish up their three-game series Thursday night. Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle McClellan will look to stay undefeated while Houston’s Nelson Figueroa will aim for his first win of the season.
The visiting Cardinals are listed as -155 baseball betting favorites while the run total is 8.5.
The St. Louis Cardinals (13-11, 7-5 away) snapped a four-game road skid to Houston with a 6-5 win on Wednesday. Matt Holliday, who is batting .429 on the season, went 3 for 4 with a homer and two RBIs. Former Astro Lance Berkman had two hits to extend his streak of multi-hit games to six.
McClellan (3-0, 2.16 ERA) will be concluding what has been a solid first month as a full-time member of St. Louis’s starting rotation. The right-hander has allowed no more than two runs in any of his four outings. He is 0-2 with two saves and a 2.89 ERA in 17 relief appearances against the Astros, but this will be his first start against them.
The Houston Astros (9-15, 5-7 home) have lost four of their last six games. The Astros made a charge at the end of Wednesday’s game against the Cardinals, scoring five runs in the final two innings, but their rally ultimately came up short. Houston’s star of the game was Brett Wallace, who had his second straight three-hit game.
Figueroa (0-3, 8.55 ERA) is 1-1 with a 5.54 ERA in five starts against the Cardinals. The right-hander has struggled this season, allowing 19 earned runs and 31 hits in 20 innings over four starts.
