Dan Haren and Lance Lynn Square-Off for Dodgers and Cardinals Friday

Dan Haren and Lance Lynn Square-Off for Dodgers and Cardinals Friday

Cardinals closing the gap in NL Central standings

The St. Louis Cardinals are just one game from the top spot in the National League Central after an impressive run to end the first-half and a slide by the Brewers. St. Louis will need its pitching staff to continue to pitch well as it waits for the offense to get things going at the plate. If St. Louis wants to make a serious run at the division title, it will need a lot of help since catcher Yadier Molina will miss a ton of time.

Dan Haren looks to get Dodgers off on the right foot

Haren will make his first start against the Cardinals since April of 2013 as a member of the Washington Nationals. He has a 3-1 career record against St. Louis with an ERA of 3.86. The Dodgers went on a 19-10 run to move into first place in the NL West after being 8.5 games out of first on June 12. They entered the All-Star break with a one game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the standings.

On Friday night, when the Cardinals host the Dodgers, we will place our bets at Bovada.lv. We will bet 20 percent of our bankroll on the Cardinals to win the first game of this important series with the Dodgers. The second-half begins on Friday and there are plenty of races that look like they will go down to the wire.