Cardinals at Rangers Odds 2011 World Series Predictions Game 4: Momentum in the 2011 World Series took a monumental shift in the direction of the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday night at Rangers Ball Park in Arlington after Albert Pujols delivered a Hall of Fame performance in Game 3, becoming the third player in MLB history to hit three home runs in a World Series game, joining Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson. Pujols tied a World Series record with five hits, tied another with six RBIs, set a new one with 14 total bases and set still another with hits in four consecutive innings, all in leading the Cardinals to a 16-7 victory. Now up two games to one; MLB Odds have shifted in the favor or the Cardinals to win, at -155 while the Rangers, now underdogs, are coming off at +125. On Sunday (8 P.M. ET, Fox) the Cardinals and Rangers will battle in Game 4.
Looking to avoid losing more ground to the Cardinals, Rangers manager Ron Washington gives Sunday's Game 4 start to left-hander Derek Holland while the Cardinals pin their hopes on right-hander Edwin Jackson. With Holland and Jackson as starters; online sportsbook SBGglobal.com has installed the Rangers as slight -178 moneyline favorites with a combined score total (over/under) of 10. Cardinals backers are getting +168 as Game 4 underdogs.
Jackson is a flyball pitcher who will be pitching in a park that punishes flyball tendencies. However, Jackson has been effective in Arlington, with a 3.25 lifetime ERA there. Holland got the win for the Rangers in ALCS Game 6 with Detroit that clinched their spot in the World Series. In the playoffs, he is 1-0 with a 5.27 ERA in 13 2/3 innings. He has never faced the Cardinals in his career.
It's a little sensational to say the Cardinals Game-3 victory has put the Rangers in dire straights, but in a sense it has. The Rangers could have ended the World Series in Arlington with a sweep of games at Rangers Ball Park but now that scenario belongs to the Cardinals. It's crucial for the Rangers to even the series with a Game-4 win Sunday night to have much of a chance of winning a World Championship. It was predicted the Rangers would be easy victors back in Arlington for Game 3 with their strong lineup of bats. Instead, the opposite happened; the Cardinals provided power the Rangers could not match.
Cardinals backers cashed a healthy ticket for their Game 4 victory as +178 underdogs while the combined 23 runs to cross the plate took the game total soaring OVER the posted 9 1/2 total.
World Series 2011 MLB Odds Game-4 (SBGglobal.com): Rangers ML -178; Cardinals ML +168; Total 9 1/2: World Series Championship Odds (first team to win four games in the seven games series (2-3-2): Texas Rangers +125; Cardinals -155. Get $50 in Free MLB Picks Here.
