St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants: NLCS Game 2 Prediction, Preview, Betting Odds

The St. Louis Cardinals are looking to join the Detroit Tigers by winning the first two games of the championship series on the road. They visit the San Francisco Giants in Game Two of the NLCS on Monday night.

St. Louis took Game One on Sunday evening. They beat San Francisco 6-4, on the strength of home runs by David Freese and Carlos Beltran.

Beltran continued his postseason dominance. His numbers make him, possibly, the greatest playoff hitter of all time. In just 29 career games, he’s hitting .370 with 14 home runs and 25 runs batted in.

The Cardinals are one of the few teams that haven’t struggled to score, this postseason. They have 44 runs in seven games, 18 more than the Tigers, who are in second place.

Ryan Vogelsong will look to slow down the hot St. Louis offense. He threw five scoreless innings in his one start against Cincinnati in the NLDS. He didn’t allow a run in his one start against the Cardinals in 2012.

For St. Louis, Chris Carpenter will take the ball. He has a long history of success with the Cardinals in the postseason. He’s gone 10-2 with a 2.88 ERA in 16 starts.

Both teams have a lot of players with playoff experience. The Cardinals and Giants won the 2011 and 2010 World Series, respectively. It’s the first time the previous two champions have played each other in the championship series for a chance to advance to the Fall Classic.

It’s expected to be a close contest, but San Francisco is expected to leave AT&T Park with a split of the first two games. The betting line has the Giants -112 favorites ate most Las Vegas sportsbooks.

The Cardinals have the slight edge at starting pitcher, but Ryan Vogelsong has shown that he can pitch well under pressure. The Giants bullpen was terrific in Game One, and that could be the difference in San Francisco edging out the victory. Look for the series to be tied at 1-1, as it heads to St. Louis.

The first pitch is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. ET and you can watch the game live on FOX. You can listen to a free live stream at espnradio.com.