ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball returns to the National League, as the St. Louis Cardinals host the Los Angeles Dodgers in the rubber game of a three-game weekend series.
The Cardinals beat the Dodgers 4-3 in 16 innings on Friday night and the Dodgers evened the series with a 7-2 win on Saturday. The Dodgers enter Sunday as first in line in the NL wild-card race. The Cardinals are two games behind the Dodgers and would be on the outside looking in if the proverbial "playoffs were to begin today," as they're a game behind the Miami Marlins.
Our ESPN Chalk team of MLB handicappers, who try to help you end your betting week on a winning note, returned from our midseason break with Joe Peta and Erin Rynning suffering a rare loss with the Boston Red Sox (-120) as they fell 3-1 to the New York Yankees, but Dave Tuley won with under 7.5.
Peta continues to be our most profitable handicapper overall on Sunday nights at 8-4 for a net profit of 5.73 units (risking the price on the favorite to win 1 unit or laying 1 unit on the underdog) while Tuley is 6-2 for a net profit of 3.7 units on over/unders and Rynning dips to 2-1 with a profit of 0.8 units.
Here are our takes on the Dodgers-Cardinals matchup as Peta lands on a side, and Andrew Lange returns in place of Rynning to join Tuley with a look at the over/under.
Editor's Note: Lines are subject to change based on time and location, and these picks were made based on opening prices. Be aware of differences in available odds and consider the included analysis relative to the stated lines within the article when placing bets.