Cardinals vs Dodgers MLB Betting Odds, Starting Pitchers and Prediction

The second win-or-go-home MLB Playoffs Wild Card game is on tap for this evening. It’s the National League’s turn to take center stage tonight as the St. Louis Cardinals head to SoCal to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. The storylines surrounding this game are numerous. The Cardinals come in as one of the hottest teams in baseball. Meanwhile, despite winning 106 games this season, the Dodgers now face a single-game elimination scenario. With the winner of tonight’s NL Wild Card Game advancing on to the Divisional Round and the loser going home, the stakes could not possibly be any higher in this Cardinals vs Dodgers MLB betting showdown.

This MLB betting preview for the Cardinals vs Dodgers NL Wild Card Game includes game info, projected starting pitchers, betting odds, trends and a prediction for this win-or-go-home matchup.

St. Louis Cardinals vs Los Angeles Dodgers Betting Preview and Prediction | MLB Playoffs

NL Wild Card Game
St. Louis Cardinals (92-70, 45-36 Away) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (106-56, 58-23 Home)
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021
Time: 8 p.m. EST
Venue: Dodger Stadium — Los Angeles, CA
Coverage: TBS

Cardinals vs Dodgers Starting Pitchers

Cardinals: Adam Wainwright (17-7, 3.05 ERA)
Dodgers: Max Scherzer (15-4, 2.46 ERA)

St. Louis Cardinals Preview

It seems like just yesterday that there were MLB betting odds available in the neighborhood of 5-1 on the Cardinals to make the playoffs. Of course, that was before St. Louis rattled off a 17-game winning streak. Combined with late-season swoons by both the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres, the Cardinals were able to clinch one of the most unlikely postseason berths in recent memory. A number of baseball analysts have said that the Cardinals accomplished a 90-win season “with smoke and mirrors”. They aren’t exactly wrong. Veterans Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt lead a lineup that lacks star power but has found a way to score timely runs throughout the team’s late-season surge.

One of the most shocking revelations of the 2021 MLB betting season was the renaissance of pitcher Adam Wainwright. The 40-year-old veteran has seemingly discovered the fountain of youth. After winning 17 games and posting a 3.05 ERA on the season, he will take the ball tonight for St. Louis in this do-or-die NL Wild Card Game. Wainwright has not lost a start since mid-August. He faced the Dodgers once this season, coming back in early September. Wainwright earned the victory on that occasion, allowing just seven hits and four runs over 8.1 innings.

Los Angeles Dodgers Preview

It’s honestly crazy to consider that the team with the second-best record in all of baseball is playing in a win-or-go-home Wild Card game tonight. While the Dodgers may have won 106 games, they still finished one game behind the San Francisco Giants in the NL West Division standings. As a result, the presumptive World Series favorite for many will start their postseason journey with their backs up against the wall in the NL Wild Card Game. On the bright side, the Dodgers possess an endless array of talent up and down the lineup. Losing Max Muncy to an elbow injury in the regular-season finale hurts, but L.A. has more than enough offensive firepower to overcome this in tonight’s MLB betting matchup. Mookie Betts, Justin Turner, Corey Seager and trade deadline acquisition Trea Turner are just a handful of the Dodgers’ weapons.

Of course, Trea Turner was the only player involved in the Dodgers’ blockbuster deadline deal with the Washington Nationals. Ace starting pitcher Max Scherzer was also a part of that package. His numbers from the season include 15 wins, a 2.46 ERA, 0.864 WHIP and 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. The NL Cy Young Award race was nip and tuck this year, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see Scherzer claim it. He dealt 13 K’s over eight innings and allowed just six hits and a single run in his only prior start against the Cardinals this season back in early September. Furthermore, one has to go all the way back to early July to find the last time Scherzer’s team lost a game that he started. Of course, that came while he was still with the Nationals. Scherzer himself has not dropped a decision since late May.