The St. Louis Cardinals are in search of some form at the moment. They've dropped four of their past six, but will have a golden opportunity to get back on track when they face the Colorado Rockies in a four-game this series this weekend.
Colorado has historically been non-competitive away from Coors Field and is 8-23 on the road this season, but the Cardinals have stumbled to a 13-12 record in their spacious home park and are two games below .500.
With Cal Quantrill on the hill for the visitors, it would appear we're in for a pitcher's duel on Thursday evening. What's the best way to spice up the odds?
Here's my Rockies vs. Cardinals MLB Parlay: SGP Picks for Thursday, June 6.
Remember to bet responsibly — this is a long shot for a reason.
Rockies vs Cardinals Same Game Parlay (Thursday, June 6)
- Under 7.5 (-132)
- Sonny Gray 8+ Strikeouts (+130)
- Ryan McMahon Over 0.5 Hits (-165)
- Parlay Odds: +525 (DraftKings)
Under 7.5 (-132)
First and foremost, let's talk about why this should be a low-scoring affair.
The Cardinals may be hitting the ball better at the moment with a 109 wRC+ over the past two weeks and an 11th-ranked wRC+ in all home games, but this profiles as a poor matchup for them. Their offense has been predicated upon power, and not only will they be receiving a huge park downgrade after playing their past nine games in Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Houston, but Quantrill should match up quite well with this offense.
The right-hander has somehow found a way to stick in the big leagues after a horrific 2023 campaign and be an effective starter. He's introduced a splitter to his arsenal and that pitch has produced a .192 xBA and has led to a huge seven-point spike in ground-ball rate.
St. Louis has hit just .205 against ground-ballers this year, ranking 25th in the big leagues, and has a poor .320 slugging percentage to boot.
On the flip side, Sonny Gray should be in for another stellar outing with his propensity for to notch strikeouts, ranking inside the top 10% of all pitchers in K-rate. The Rockies have been one of the guiltiest teams in baseball with a 25.1% strikeout rate on the season and a league-high 13.4% swinging strike rate, and on the road, they've not only struck out more — at almost 26% — but have produced far more fly balls.
The Rockies may be sporting some decent numbers against "power" pitchers, but without much contact to speak of and a plethora of fly balls that'll die in Busch Stadium, both pitchers should be in a great spot.
Sonny Gray 8+ Strikeouts (+130)
Gray has racked up 18 strikeouts across just 10 innings over his past two outings. He hit this number in each of those two starts and has done so in five of his past eight starts, making this an incredibly attainable number.
The right-hander's whiff rate is up to 29.8% this year, which should mix in well with Colorado's awful swinging strike rate.
I'd also be quick to point out that he should last more than five innings in this game given home runs shouldn't be much of an issue — something that's forced a quick hook on a few occasions this year. When he's completed six innings this season, he's hit the over on this number three of five times. I'd almost be inclined to go up to nine here, but by taking one of the hitters he'll oppose we're going to see a steep increase in our odds.
Ryan McMahon Over 0.5 Hits (-165)
It's hard to find a Cardinals' hitter to believe in here, even though Quantrill is the pitcher I believe in less. Alec Burleson is an interesting shout here, but with the way he's hit of late, there's little value to be found in his numbers. And, as I noted above, we can jack the odds up by taking somebody in the Rockies' order.
That man will be Ryan McMahon, who has recorded a hit in six of his past nine games, despite hitting a poor .188 over that span. He's just outside the top 20 in the league when it comes to total bases versus power pitchers, a group which Gray comfortably sits in with his excellent strikeout numbers.
McMahon has hit .346 in this split with 29 total bases, and best of all, 13 of the 18 hits he's registered have been singles. That's going to make it a lot easier to just pay up for one hit, as is the fact that he'll get plenty of plate appearances hitting third in the lineup.
