Milwaukee Brewers @ St.Louis Cardinals: MLB Free Picks & Predictions

For those who wrote of the Milwaukee Brewers following the season-ending injury to Christian Yelich, the team is here to prove you wrong in a big way. 

They are still fighting for their postseason lives, currently tied with the Cubs for the second National League Wild Card Spot. This weekend, they’ll have a monster series with the NL Central-leading Cardinals, who can basically taste the division crown. 

In this piece, we offer up our free MLB picks and MLB predictions for the huge set between these two ball clubs. 

• 1Brewers hoping to play inspired ball following Yelich injury
• 2Cards righty Jack Flaherty has been untouchable of late
• 3STL will look to rough up Chase Anderson on Sunday
• 4Who will come away with the NL Central title?

Brewers hoping to play inspired ball following Yelich injury

Getting the start for the Cardinals in Game 1 of this series will be veteran right-handed hurler Adam Wainwright. In his last two starts, he’s been dominant, lasting seven innings and earning wins in each game.

For Milwaukee, Adrian Houser gets the nod. He’s 6-5 on the year with a 3.59 ERA. He’s also quite familiar with St. Louis, facing them twice last month alone. He won the first of those two starts.

This one should be a close battle, with both teams having plenty to play for. In the end, though, we’ll give the advantage to the Brewers, as they’re playing with a chip on their shoulders after the rough Yelich news.

Cards righty Jack Flaherty has been untouchable of late

Other than maybe James Paxton, no pitcher in the bigs has looked better recently than starter Jack Flaherty. 

Since the All-Star Break, Flaherty has a mind-blowing 0.76 ERA. For the season, he has a 2.99 ERA and 196 strikeouts. He knows how to sit batters down as soon as they get up to the plate.

While the Brewers will be hoping to change things for Flaherty on Sunday, we don’t think they’ll have what it takes to get the job done. We’ll take the Cards to cover the spread in a victorious showing.

STL will look to rough up Chase Anderson on Sunday

It’s been nothing but a horrid recent stretch of games for Brewers’ starting pitcher Chase Anderson. In his last three starts, the man has only lasted four innings in each outing.  

To make matters worse, he’s posted a 6.75 ERA in those showings. Obviously, he’s hit a rough patch and the Cardinals batters will be ready to take advantage. 

With this series being played at Busch Stadium, it’s not going to help Anderson try and calm down from the bump. Because of this, we’ll once again take the Cards to come away with the victory.

Who will come away with the NL Central title?

Both the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers are four games back of the St. Louis Cardinals right now in the NL Central standings.

With the regular season getting ready to wrap up, it feels like a near impossible task for either of these teams to take down St. Louis. Because of this, the betting odds reflect the mountain Chicago and Milwaukee must climb if they want to take home the division title.

The Cardinals understandably are favorites to win the NL Central. Barring a late meltdown, they should take home the hardware.

Think they’ll do so? Go ahead and place your bet today.