Cardinals at Phillies Game 5 MLB Playoffs Game 5 2011: The St. Louis Cardinals, who had to mount a spectacular late season rally to win the National League Wild Card playoff spot, have taken the MLB Odds favorite Philadelphia Phillies to the brink, having to play a fifth and deciding game of their National League Divisional Series Friday (8:35 p.m. ET) at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
Former Cy Young Award winners, Phillies' Roy "Doc" Halladay and Card's veteran Chris Carpenter are scheduled to battle from the mound. MLB Odds at online sportsbook SBGglobal.com show the Phillies installed -130 moneyline favorites to win Game 5 while players backing St. Louis get +165 odds as underdogs. The combined run total (over/under) opened at 7.0.
If the Cardinals have a must-win game, Carpenter is the man they want pitching. He scuffled on short rest in Game 2, but on full rest, there's no reason to think he can't be his best. The Phillies traded for Halladay in December 2009 with games like Friday in mind. He's the ace of a rotation full of aces, and they'll be counting on him to keep their season alive in the team's first Game 5 in a postseason series since the '81 NLDS.
Halladay beat the Cardinals in Game 1 of the series at Citizens Bank Park, giving up three runs in the first inning and retiring the next 21 batters en route to his third career postseason win. He's 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA in four career playoff starts, all with the Phillies.
Carpenter had a rough outing in Game 1, giving up four runs and five hits in three innings in his shortest outing of the season. The Red Birds bounced back the next day in Game 2 beating Cliff Lee and the Phillies, 5-4 to pull even in the series. Edwin Jackson got the win for the Cardinals in Wednesday's Game 4 evening the series at 2-2. St. Louis backers cashed as +119 home underdogs in the game while the 8-runs scored, took the total OVER the posted 7 1/2.
MLB Odds at online sportsbook SBGglobal.com show the Phillies installed -130 moneyline favorites to win Game 5. Get $50 in Free MLB Picks Here.
