I’ve never been much of the gambling type, never had the cohonais to risk money that I don’t have. Besides, whenever I’ve bet on sports, mainly fantasy football, it was never about winning the money, it was always about bragging rights. I have to admit, when something is riding on a game, whether it’s money or pride, it makes the game more exciting, it just does. When I stopped betting on games, I began to be less interested in games that didn’t involve my home teams…until I started Streak for the Cash.
ESPN’s Streak for the Cash gave me a rooting interest for games that I wouldn’t otherwise care about, and now I’m addicted. I try to pick a game, mainly baseball during this time of year, every day.
For the remainder of the baseball season, I will try to do the same for you: give you one baseball game a day that I think is a lock for the Streak for the Cash. Let’s see how big of a streak we can build.
By: Justin Mertes-Mistretta
Phillies (Oswalt) at Cardinals (Carpenter)
Pick: Cardinals
The Phillies have won 10 of their past 12 games, compared to two of 12 for the Cards, and are looking to sweep the Cardinals with a win tonight. Philadelphia has outscored St. Louis 14-2 in the series, with Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee pitching like their usual unstoppable selves. It also helped to avoiding Albert Pujols, who broke his wrist June 19, before the Phillies series. Not only are the Cards without one of the best hitters in baseball history, they have Chris Carpenter on the mound, who is looking for his first win in eight starts.
You might be thinking to yourself, this guy is picking the Pujols-less Cardinals to beat the best team in baseball? And I’m reading this article why? Well, let’s dig deeper.
Sure, the Phillies have dominated this series, and this season in general, but Roy Oswalt has not. Since returning from the DL, Oswalt is 1-4 in seven starts with just 20 strikeouts total. The former NL Central starter, is also 0-3 with a 3.89 ERA in seven games against the Cards dating back to 2007.
On the flip side, Chris Carpenter owns the Phillies. He’s won three straight starts against Philadelphia, holding current batters to a .217 average and only one home run and one walk.
I expect a dominant second half of the season from Carpenter and I believe it starts tonight. Pick the Cardinals and let’s start our streak off right.
The Sports Bank Streak for the Cash group coming soon. All are welcome to join!
Justin Mertes-Mistretta is a senior fantasy football writer for TheSportsBank.net and avid Streaker on ESPN’s Streak for the Cash. Follow him on Twitter at MertesMist_tsb.