You know what they say? There’s nothing like Opening Day...Especially in Saint Louis! It’s no April Fools joke either…the St Louis Cardinals plan on repeating as World Champions in 2007. With this trio of manager Tony LaRussa, pitching coach Dave Duncan and General Manager Walt Jockety running things, they might not be a bad bet either.Tonight the National League gets the new season started just as 2006 ended in the NLCS with a matchup between the Cardinals and the New York Mets. 

Coming into the season, oddsmakers like the Mets chances to make it to the Fall Classic with 4/1 odds, more so than the Cardinals at 15/2 odds. Oddsmakers put 7/1 odds on New York to win the 2007 World Series with St Louis at 13/1. However, in tonight’s opener, it’s the Cardinals who are the money line favorite to win at -150. If you like the Mets, you can get them on the ML at +135. The run line favors the Mets at +1 ½ (-170) and offers a -1 ½ (+150) juice on the Cardinals. The total for the game is 7 ½ runs. The odds vary depending on the sportsbook so it helps to shop around. The odds listed in this report were provided by offshore sportsbook BoDog.com.

The Cardinals send their pitching ace, right hander Chris Carpenter to the mound while fellow Cy Young winner, lefty Tom Glavine is scheduled to pitch for the Mets. Glavine last faced the Cardinals in the NLCS, pitching six shutout innings and only giving up four base hits in game one but was saddled with the loss his next time out in game five. The last time Carpenter pitched against the Mets was in game six of the NLCS. Carpenter pitched six solid innings but the Mets prevailed beating the Cardinals 4-2. The loss was Carpenters first post season loss of his career. 

Glavine finished the 2006 regular season with a 15-7 record and a 3.82 ERA. The left hander was 1-0 versus the Cardinals last year but is 18-6 lifetime with a 3.61 era. Carpenter did not face the Mets in the regular season but is 1-2 lifetime with a 4.24 ERA versus New York.

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