Cardinals Look to Bounce Back Behind Leahy at Coors After Yesterday's Slugfest

The Cardinals dust themselves off after yesterday's 10-7 barn-burner loss and send Kyle Leahy to the bump against Tanner Gordon in what should be a drastically different pitching matchup. Leahy's 3.13 ERA and 1.31 WHIP represent a massive upgrade over Gordon's pedestrian 5.18 ERA and 1.40 WHIP—a two-run ERA gap that's hard to ignore even in the thin air of Coors Field.

Yesterday's shootout reminded everyone that runs come cheap at altitude, but the Cardinals' team ERA of 4.29 versus Colorado's bloated 5.44 suggests St. Louis has the pitching depth to navigate this launching pad better than the home squad. Gordon's been getting shelled all season, and the Cardinals offense just hung seven runs in a losing effort, so they're clearly seeing the ball well.

DarkHorse has Cardinals -130 with moderate confidence, and frankly, the math checks out. You're laying juice, sure, but you're getting a two-run starter advantage and a significantly better bullpen behind him. The market's pricing St. Louis around 54 percent to win, but the pitching disparity suggests it should be closer to 58 percent. The Rockies took yesterday's rubber match, but banking on Tanner Gordon to outduel anyone—let alone a sub-3.20 ERA arm—feels like wishful thinking. Lay the short price.