Cardinals vs. Padres Prediction and Odds for Tuesday, September 20 (Lean on Wainwright's Experience in September)

The St. Louis Cardinals are 87-61 with a seven game lead in their division. The Cardinals turned it on in the second half of the season and now they could open the door for their division rival to get into the postseason. The San Diego Padres are three games ahead of the Brewers in the Wild Card race and if St. Louis rolls in this series with San Diego, Milwaukee could sneak in and the all-in Padres could be left on the outside. 

It’s the veteran Adam Wainwright on the mound tonight for St. Louis against Mike Clevinger for the Padres in San Diego. 

Cardinals vs. Padres Odds, Run Line and Total

Cardinals vs. Padres Prediction and Pick

I really like this St. Louis team, I even put a future on them to win the World Series at the end of July. They have two of the best offensive players in the National League in Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt. If Adam Wainwright keeps pitching this well into October, then they have a top line pitcher with playoff experience who knows how to win big games like tonight. 

Clevinger was supposed to be one of those top line pitchers in the playoffs when the Padres acquired him from Cleveland. He has not been that and it’s going from mediocre to bad and maybe it’ll go from bad to worse. He has made three starts in September and has allowed 15 earned runs in 13.1 innings. That is an ERA over 10 in three outings. Sure, two of them came against the Dodgers and the Cardinals offense is not that dominant, but it is still one of the league’s best. 

I have no faith in Clevinger to win a big game and there might not be a pitcher in the league I trust more in a big spot than Wainwright. As things start to heat up in a postseason chase I’ll lean on experience and a track record of success. 

Pick: Cardinals +100

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