What It Means:

Goldschmidt is absent for a second straight game amid a rough stretch at the plate. Luken Baker will start on first base again and bat cleanup while Juan Yepez will serve as the designated hitter and bat sixth.

numberFire’s models project Baker ($2,300) for 6.6 and Yepez ($2,200) for 4.3 FanDuel points on Thursday. Per our MLB Heat Map, the Cardinals' implied total is 3.30, tied for second-lowest on the board, and the game total is 8.0. Burnes has been one of the better pitchers in the majors this season, wiht a 3.46 ERA and 3.36 xERA this season, with a 33.0% hard-hit rate (top 87th percentile), 25.6% strikeout rate, and 8.5% walk rate.