St. Louis Cardinals vs San Francisco Giants Prediction & Match Preview - May 5th | MLB Season 2022

The St. Louis Cardinals visit the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park this Thursday, May 5, to kick off a four-game weekend series between the two clubs. Right-hander Miles Mikolas will take the mound for the Cardinals, and righty Logan Webb will dig in on the rubber for the Giants.

The St. Louis Cardinals boast a respectable 13-9 record to start the season. They're 6-4 on the road, a statistic that could prove itself to be pivotal in this tough road matchup against the Giants. San Francisco carries an excellent 14-8 record at the time of writing. Their 6-5 record at home hovers just above .500. They'll be looking to iron out that statistic against the visiting Cardinals.

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Match Details:

Fixture: St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants.

Date & Time: Thursday, May 5, 9:45 p.m. EDT.

Venue: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California.

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St. Louis Cardinals Preview

The Cardinals are second place in the National League Central division. They're 1.5 wins behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers and have a healthy six-win lead over the third-place Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cardinals have separated themselves nicely from competition in the division. They're in a good position to chase the Brewers for first place if they can come out of their Giants series with a few wins.

What's their game plan? It's pretty simple: Let their big bats and veteran pitchers lead the way. The Cardinals have three excellent hitters in Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, and Tyler O'Neil. Arenado is crushing the ball with a .359 average and Goldschmidt has batted .296 so far. But O'Neil is hitting just .171, which is way down from his 2021 .286 average. O'Neil's turnaround will come any day now. Just be patient.

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Key Player - Miles Mikolas

St. Louis Cardinals SP Miles Mikolas has been phenomenal so far

Here's one 33-year-old who feels like his younger self. Miles Mikolas has been looking like the All-Star who pitched over 200 innings and recorded a 2.83 ERA posted in 2018. He also posted a league-best 18 wins. This season, Mikolas is back at it with a 1.52 ERA and twenty-five punch outs over 29.2 innings.

"Miles Mikolas tells @TheCatOnBallyTV that he feels like the same All-Star caliber pitcher he was in 2018: 'If I'm healthy and I feel good, I think I'm as good as anybody at moving that ball around the zone.'" - @ Bally Sports Midwest

Mikolas will take the mound for the St. Louis Cardinals this Thursday. His pitch arsenal is an anomoly: he only throws fastballs 17.7% of the time. He makes up for it with his slider and sinker, which he throws 29.8% and 24.2% of the time, respectively. They break in opposite directions and have almost identical speeds. If there's a perfect way to keep batters guessing, that may be it.

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St. Louis Cardinals Projected Lineup

Starting Pitcher: Miles Mikolas (RHP)

1. Tommy Edman (S) 2B
2. Paul Goldschmidt (R) 1B
3. Tyler O'Neill (R) LF
4. Nolan Arenado (R) 3B
5. Albert Pujols (R) DH
6. Andrew Knizner (R) C
7. Harrison Bader (R) CF
8. Paul DeJong (R) SS
9. Dylan Carlson (S) RF

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San Francisco Giants Preview

Somehow, the 14-8 San Francisco Giants are in third place in the National League West division. They've got it tough out in California. The first-place Los Angeles Dodgers are 14-7 and the second-place Padres are 15-8. The Giants can't even catch a break with their division-trailer, the 13-9 Colorado Rockies.

The San Francisco Giants need wins if they want to stay in this early division race. Going home to face the Cardinals, Gabe Kapler's squad will be looking to improve in one major area: home performance. The Giants have dropped five of their 11 home games to start the season. That's not only poor for team morale, but also for ticket sales and fan support. If the Giants can come away with a few home wins against a team like the Cardinals, they'll be in good shape.

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Key Player - Logan Webb

San Francisco Giants SP Logan Webb posted a 3-1 record this April.

That's right. This game will be a pitching duel. Webb carries a 3-1 record and a 3.26 ERA into the rubbermatch against Mikolas. Like the Cardinals starter, he's got an interesting pitch repertoire. He relies on his 86-MPH changeup 36.7% of the time and uses his sinker 32.7% of the time.

"Logan Webb, Nasty 86mph Changeup...and Sword." - @ Rob Friedman

Get this: Mikolas throws his fastball only 2.7% of the time. It averages just 92 mph, and it's got an extremely poor spin rate. That's probably why he stays away from it. Webb is the epitome of an anti-velocity pitcher.

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San Francisco Giants Projected Lineup

Starting pitcher: Logan Webb (RHP)

1. Luis Gonzalez (L) CF
2. Darin Ruf (R) RF
3. Wilmer Flores (R) DH
4. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
5. Mike Ford (L) 1B
6. Thairo Estrada (R) 2B
7. Jason Vosler (L) 3B
8. Jason Krizan (L) LF
9. Joey Bart (R) C

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St. Louis Cardinals vs San Francisco Giants Prediction

This one will be close, but Mikolas will lead his St. Louis Cardinals to victory over Webb's San Francisco Giants. San Francisco is simply too plagued with injury to challenge Mikolas' sub-two ERA. They're missing Brandon Belt and Joc Pederson, who have combined for 10 home runs this season. St. Louis will win by a score of 3-1.

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Where to follow the St. Louis Cardinals vs San Francisco Giants

Watch: MLB TV, Bally Sports Midwest (Cardinals), NBC Sports Bay Area (Giants).