May 17, 2022; New York City, New York, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Tyler O’Neill (27) beats the throw to New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) for an RBI infield single during the ninth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
- The New York Mets are -160 home favorites over the St Louis Cardinals in a National League afternoon game slated for Thursday, May 19
- Entering play on Wednesday St Louis was 8-2 straight up in the club’s last 10 games played at Citi Field
- All of the best Cardinals vs Mets odds, picks, and predictions are outlined in the following story
With a win on Thursday afternoon over the New York Mets (24-14, 11-8 home), the St Louis Cardinals (20-16, 10-8 road) will maintain an impressive run of success in the Big Apple. The Cards haven’t been dealt defeat in a series at Citi Field since 2018.
St Louis carried an 8-2 straight up edge in the last 10 road games against the Mets entering Wednesday night’s game between the two teams. Overall, the Cardinals had only lost successive games to the Mets only twice through their past 23 meetings.
In the MLB betting lines for this game, though, it’s the Mets that the oddsmakers are taking a liking to. New York’s National League squad is set as-160 home favorites. The Cardinals are a solid 12-6 against the runline as an away team this season.
Cardinals vs Mets Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Louis Cardinals | +140 | +1.5 (-160) | Over 7 (-115) |
| New York Mets | -160 | -1.5 (+140) | Under 7 (-105) |
Odds as of May 18th at Caesars Sportsbook.
The first pitch is set to be tossed at Citi Field at 1:10 pm ET on Thursday, May 19. In the weather forecast. there’s cloudy skies, 4 mph wind and a temperature of 66 degrees.
The Mets are +165 second betting choices to win in the NL East odds. As for the Cardinals, they’re the +230 second betting option to win the NL Central. In the World Series odds, the Mets are the co-second betting choice at +800. St Louis is the ninth option among NL clubs at a betting line of +3500.
Public betting is showing strong support for St Louis in this game. There’s 87% of the bets placed against the spread on the Cardinals +1.5. The moneyline splits show 70% of the bets are on the Cardinals at +140 odds. In terms of the total, 83% of the public bets are on the Over (7).
Mets vs Nationals Probable Pitchers
In this battle of right-handers, Dakota Hudson of the Cardinals is making his eighth start of the season and fifth on the road. He’s 3-1 in his last four decisions. However, St Louis is 1-2 in Hudson’s past three starts.
Hudson has allowed just six earned runs over his past 23.1 innings pitched for a 1.93 ERA. He’s struck out 20 against 17 walks over 35.1 innings of work this season.
Dakota Hudson got the win yesterday in spite of his pitch quality. His style of pitching to contact without getting any whiffs/strikeouts is very risky. His pitches outsource any run prevention to the defense behind him (which works better with the defense he has) #STLCards pic.twitter.com/W9LaiBxVqw
— Kyle Bland (@blandalytics) May 16, 2022
In two career starts facing the Mets he’s 1-0 with a 4.91 ERA. He’s surrendered three home runs to New York batters over 11 innings pitched. But all three of those homers came at Busch Stadium. Hudson worked six innings in one start at Citi Field, posting a 4.50 ERA and not figuring in the decision.
Hudson vs Bassitt
| 3-2 | Record | 4-2 |
| 3.06 | ERA | 2.34 |
| 5.43 | xERA | 3.02 |
| 1.20 | WHIP | 1.02 |
| 2.50 | SO/W Ratio | 3.83 |
Mets righty Chris Bassitt is among the top 2% in the majors with an exit velocity of 83.4 mph. Meanwhile, Hudson is in the bottom 6% in strikeout percentage (13.5%). Bassitt is showing a strikeouts/walks ratio of 46:12 in 42.1 innings on the bump.
“New York fans are a little different. They’re a little crazy. I don’t know many fanbases that will sit in the rain and just sit there for we didn’t even know how long. Tonight was awesome.”
– Chris Bassitt pic.twitter.com/6eQTOkznGt
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 15, 2022
Bassitt is 2-1 in his last four starts and the Mets are 3-1. But he’s just 1-2 with a 3.65 ERA in four home starts this season. He’s allowed five earned runs over the past 24.1 innings for a 1.85 ERA.
Bassitt is 1-0 with a 2.89 ERA in two starts against St Louis. He’s 15-12 with a 3.30 ERA in day games during his career.
Batting Average vs Starting Pitchers
| Cardinals Batters | Batting Average vs Bassitt | Mets Batters | Batting Average vs Hudson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nolan Arenado | .667 | Pete Alonso | .400 |
| Harrison Bader | .000 | Mark Canha | 1.000 |
| Dylan Carlson | .000 | JD Davis | .333 |
| Corey Dickerson | .000 | Eduardo Escobar | .333 |
| Brendan Donovan | .000 | Luis Guillorme | .000 |
| Tommy Edman | .000 | Travis Jankowski | .500 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | .250 | Gosuke Katoh | .000 |
| Andrew Knizner | .000 | Francisco Lindor | .000 |
| Yadier Molina | .500 | Patrick Mazeika | .000 |
| Tyler O’Neill | .000 | Jeff McNeil | .000 |
| Albert Pujols | .417 | Tomas Nido | .000 |
| Edmundo Sosa | .000 | Brandon Nimmo | .000 |
| Juan Yepez | .000 | Dominic Smith | .500 |
Cardinals veteran slugger Albert Pujols is batting 5-for-12 (.417) against Bassitt with a homer and two RBI. Nolan Arenado is 2-for-3 (.667) and Yadier Molina is 1-for-2 (.500).
3,314 hits and counting 📈
Albert Pujols is now 10th all-time in MLB hits ⚾
(via @Cardinals)pic.twitter.com/6mR6jF7TKV
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 19, 2022
For the Mets, Pete Alonso is 2-for-5 (.400) off of Hudson with a solo homer. Mark Canha is 2-for-2 (1.000) and Dominic Smith is 1-for-2 (.500). Both JD Davis and Eduardo Escobar are 1-for-3 (.333). Escobar’s hit was a solo home run.
Cardinals vs Mets Picks & Prediction
For starters, factor in the run of success by the Cardinals at Citi Field. Then take into account Bassitt’s struggles at home this season as a first-year Met.
Do the math and it adds up to a St Louis victory.
Pick: St Louis Cardinals ML (+140)
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.