The St. Louis Cardinals go for their sixth-straight win when they host the Philadelphia Phillies for the opener of a four-game set Monday at Busch Stadium (7:05 pm ET, ESPN).
St. Louis is a -125 moneyline favorite and the over/under total is 9 in Sports Betting Odds at online sportsbooks.
But the Cardinals may have their hands full in this series, as the Phillies are 5-1 SU in the past six meetings overall and 4-1 SU in the past six clashes in St. Louis. As well, the total has gone under in 10 of the past 15 meetings overall.
The teams have met once this season, a four-game set May 3 to 6 won 3-1 by Philadelphia.
The Phillies will start righthander Kyle Kendrick, who is 5-3 record with a 4.57 ERA this season. The Cardinals will counter with righthander Blake Hawksworth, who is 2-2 with a 4.97 ERA.
The Phillies are coming off a 3-1 series loss against the Chicago Cubs. Philadelphia lost 11-6 as a -180 favorite on Sunday, and the score more than doubled the over/under total of 7.5.
Ryan Howard, Ben Francisco and Greg Dobbs hit solo home runs for Philadelphia, while Roy Halladay gave up six runs on seven hits in six innings.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, completed a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 5-4 win as a +145 underdog on Sunday. The score was a push on the total of 9.
Matt Holliday singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth for St. Louis and Allen Craig drove in three runs in the win.
