CLICK HERE TO GRAB OUR BEST Expert MLB Picks for 2010 MLB Betting! \u2014\u2013><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n St. Louis Cardinals @ Philadelphia Phillies \u2013 Monday, May 3rd 7:05 P.M<\/strong> Baseball Gambling Lines:<\/strong><\/p>\n Line<\/strong>: St. Louis -130, Philadelphia +110 The Cardinals and the Phillies play the first of a four game series tonight at Citizens Bank Park with the first pitch slated for 7:05 P.M.<\/p>\n St. Louis comes into this gave having won seven out of their last eight including a four game sweep of Atlanta last week and two out of three from Cincinnati over the weekend. They currently lead the NL Central by 4 \u00bd games over Chicago with a record of 17-8. In their first eight series, they have only lost the opening game twice and have gone on to win seven of them overall.<\/p>\n Jaime Garcia gets the start tonight which could mean bad news for the Philly sluggers. In his first four starts he is 2-1 with an ERA of just 1.04. In 26 innings of work he has given up 16 hits but only three earned runs. Lifetime against Philadelphia he is 0-1 with an ERA of 4.50 but this was in relief work, not a start.<\/p>\n Even is Garcia struggles a bit, the Cardinals lineup should be able to help him out with some runs. 3B David Freese has been on a tear as of late and now has 16 RBI\u2019s and 27 hits on the year. Albert Pujols leads the team with a .340 batting average, 24 RBI\u2019s and seven homeruns.<\/p>\n Philadelphia scored nine runs including four homeruns in the fourth inning in an 11-5 pounding of the Mets on Sunday to recapture first place in the NL East by taking two out of three games over the weekend. They are now 14-10 on the year, \u00bd game ahead of New York. Previously they lost two out of three to both Arizona and San Francisco on the road to fall into second place for the first time since last May.<\/p>\n Joe Blanton, who just came off the DL will get his first start on the season tonight for Philadelphia. In his last rehab start he gave up five hits and five runs in a Double A game in Reading so it is hard to know what to expect from him in this game. Last season he had a record of 12-8 with an ERA of 4.05. Lifetime against the Cardinals he has been pretty good with a 3-0 record and an ERA of just 1.71. The Phillies bats have been explosive as ever scoring 21 runs in their last two games. Six players are in double figures for RBI\u2019s with Shane Victorino leading the way with 22.<\/p>\n Chase Utley leads the team with seven homeruns and 24 runs scored while Ryan Howard leads in total hits with 30.<\/p>\n Jaime Garcia is off to a great start for St. Louis and should be able to carry that success into tonight\u2019s game.<\/p>\n If he can keep the Phillies\u2019 bats quiet for the first few innings, the Cardinal\u2019s lineup should be able to get to Blanton early and often to make this another long night for the Philadelphia bull pen.<\/p>\n Gambling Trends:<\/strong><\/p>\n The total has gone UNDER in 7 of St. Louis’s last 10 games
\nSt. Louis: 17-8 SU
\nPhiladelphia: 14-10 SU<\/p>\n
\nTotal<\/strong>: Over 9 -120<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/media.partners.betus.com\/BANNERS\/baseball\/sportsbook_baseball_250x250_mybanner.gif\")
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\nThe total has gone UNDER in 7 of St. Louis’s last 10 games on the road
\nThe total has gone OVER in 12 of St. Louis’s last 18 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia
\nPhiladelphia is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing St. Louis
\nThe total has gone OVER in 12 of Philadelphia’s last 15 games at home
\nPhiladelphia is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against St. Louis
\nSt. Louis is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
\nThe total has gone OVER in 12 of Philadelphia’s last 18 games when playing at home against St. Louis<\/p>\n