Gambling911.com honed in on one of the better trends in Major League Baseball this past weekend. The St. Louis Cardinals had gone 23-4 in the last 27 meetings in Pittsburgh heading into Sunday's game.
St. Louis was also priced pretty decent considering this trend. They were coming in at -142, -133 and -155 in games of this series.
Sunday's game was especially brutal. St. Louis beat Pittsburgh 18-4 in that one.
The Cardinals starting pitcher Steven Matz lasted only four pitches before being pulled with stiffness in his left shoulder.
"Sometimes stuff comes up," Matz said. "I felt it a little bit in the bullpen. I was trying to work through it a little bit. ... Just try to get through this, get some outs."
Albert Pujols hit two home runs early for St. Louis. The 42-year-old slugger added a three-run homer in the ninth off Pirates infielder Josh VanMeter in the ninth. Pujols is fifth on the all-time homer list, 13 behind Alex Rodriguez in fourth, and his 32 at PNC Park are the most by an opposing player.
"I'm here to try to help this ball club as much as I can," Pujols said. "This is not about me. It's never been about me. It's always been about this Cardinals organization and the impact I can make on the players in the organization."
Next up for the Cards, Toronto. These teams haven't faced each other since 2017. St. Louis won the last two meetings.
