St. Louis Cardinals (61-48) @ Florida Marlins (53-56)

Date: Saturday August 7th, 2010

Time: 7:10 pm EST

Preview: One day after Adam Wainwright threw a two hit complete game shut-out the Cardinals will look to take their second straight over Florida, and third in a row. The Cardinals come into Saturday’s action, just ½ game behind the Cincinnati Reds for first place in the National League Central. The Cardinals have seen their three time MVP Albert Pujols heat up, once again cracking a three run homerun on Friday night. Pujols now is batting .309 with 28 homeruns and 82 runs batted in. The homeruns are tied with Adam Dunn atop the National League, while the 82 RBI’s has taken over the lead from Phillies slugger Ryan Howard. The Cardinals have not just been an offensive team; their pitching ranks 3rd in all of baseball with a 3.45 earned run average. Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter and rookie Jaime Garcia have all been solid. Jake Westbrook will make his second start in a Cardinals uniform in this one. Westbrook went 6 innings in his debut on Monday against Houston, but did not pick up the win, as the Cardinals bullpen squandered his two run lead.

Cy Young candidate Josh Johnson will take the hill for the Marlins. Johnson leads the National League with a 1.96 earned run average, and holds a 10-4 overall record. His last start was in San Diego, where he was roughed up for 7 hits and 5 runs in 5.2 innings pitched. He took his fourth loss of the season in that one. On the season, Johnson has struck out 151 batters, and walked just 36. The Marlins are in fourth place in the National League east; 9.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves.

My MLB Betting Picks: The Cardinals get to the Marlins bullpen and win the game late. St. Louis wins 5-4.