Philadelphia at St. Louis

MLB

Philadelphia at St. Louis

Wednesday October 5^th 11pm

ESPN America

Starting Pitchers

Philadelphia: Oswalt (9-10, 3.69 ERA)

St. Louis: Jackson (5-2, 3.58 ERA)

Some tough losses last night; if the Yankees don’t have Granderson in centre, maybe they’re on the bus home, and the Phils stole one from a tiring Jaime Garcia - still, it’s made the playoffs interesting!

I like a dog with a live chance (you may have noticed) but in the playoffs that can be dangerous, because fairly obviously these are teams with talent and momentum, so every dog has some fight in it.

The splits in this game are interesting; Jackson has been solid at home, going 3-0 with a 3.10 ERA, but in his only previous start against the Phillies, when he was with Arizona, he got shelled.

Oswalt is 3-7 lifetime against the Cardinals, and has lost both visits to Busch Stadium this year, including one disastrous 2 inning outing, but his performances in the post-season are very strong - he’s 5-0 with a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts, including 2-0 with a 3.15 ERA in three against the Cardinals

It may be a reach, but this St Louis’ lineup is hitting a healthy .299 against Oswalt (Philadelphia .269 against Jackson) and I think there’s life in the old dog yet.

I’ll take St Louis to give it a go at the price.

Pick: Cardinals @2.11; 111; 111/100