Cardinals vs Giants Pick and Prediction for Friday, May 6 (Giants to End Skid)

The 14-11 San Francisco Giants have lost four straight as they host the 15-10 St. Louis Cardinals in the second game of a four-game series tonight at 10:15 PM EST.

St. Louis has won four of five and will send Jordan Hicks to the mound in this one. Hicks has yet to pitch through the fourth inning in any of his five appearances, so he'll likely serve as an opener for a bullpen day. He has a 3.65 ERA but has surrended six earned runs over his last 8.1 innings.

Alex Cobb gets the call for San Francisco to try and end the slump. He didn't make it out of the first inning against the Nationals in his last start, giving up five runs. Only one of them was earned though, as his defense let him down.

Can the Giants bounce back or will St. Louis stay hot? Thanks to our friends at WynnBET, let's peruse the odds to pick a winner in this Giants vs Cardinals matchup:

Cardinals vs Giants Odds, Run Line and Total

Run Line:

• Cardinals +1.5 (-200)
• Giants -1.5 (+165)

Moneyline:

• Cardinals: +119
• Giants: -129

Total:

• 7.0 (Over -120/Under +100)

Cardinals vs Giants Prediction and Pick

Alex Cobb has been extremely unlucky thus far in the 2022 campaign. He has a 5.40 ERA but just a 1.80 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching), so we can expect some positive regression for him. The Giants have a bad defense, ranking 26th in MLB in total defensive runs saved, but that gap is ridiculous regardless.

Just check out Cobb's pitching profile from Baseball Savant and tell me this is a guy who should have a 5.40 ERA:

That's pretty darned good! And while the Cardinals are on a roll, I have no faith in their offense. Congratulations, you scored a bunch of runs on the Royals' league-worst bullpen. So what? St. Louis still ranks 24th in OPS against right-handed pitchers and have had the second-easiest strength of schedule, per TeamRankings.com.

So we can expect positive regression for Cobb and negative regression for the Cardinals. And that's before you even get to the concerning peripheral stats for today's starter, Jordan Hicks.

The 25-year-old flame thrower ranks in the 99th percentile in fastball velocity but in just the 7th percentile in barrel percentage and walk rate. Even though he throws incredibly hard, batters can still make hard contact and draw walks. San Francisco ranks ninth in walks per game so their patient approach should pay dividends.

I'm backing the Giants to snap their slump and pick up the home win. Cobb has been too good to keep losing and the Cardinals are punching above their weight.

Pick: Giants (-129)

Follow all of Joe Summers' betting picks here.