Free MLB Picks - Giants at Cardinals: One of Monday's better Bodog.com MLB gambling matchups will be played at new Busch Stadium in St. Louis between the visiting San Francisco Giants and home team Cardinals. With first pitch set for 8:15 pm ET ace righthander Tim Lincecum will take the mound for the Giants to start this game. Lincecum is 7-2 this season with a 2.57 ERA. Brad Thompson will be toeing the rubber for the Cardinals in this contest. Righthander Thompson is 2-2 with a 4.61 ERA so far this season.
 
Oddsmakers at Bodog.com currently have the Giants listed as 130-moneyline favorites versus the Cardinals, while the game's total is 7 1/2.

Lincecum is hot right now having won three of his last four starts. The right-hander went 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA against the St. Louis Cardinals last season. If not for Jason Giambi's solo home run, Tim Lincecum would have tallied his second shutout of the season Tuesday against the Oakland Athletics. That doesn't mean he had an easy go of it, though. Twice Lincecum evaded bases-loaded situations

Thompson was better than his line might have indicated his last time out, but this still might be his last start for a while. Kyle Lohse is due back from the disabled list in short order, so Thompson needs to state his case to stay in the rotation, and he needs to do it soon. He's filled a lot of roles, from long man to late-inning reliever to starter, but it's pitching in the rotation that he enjoys most. If he wants to keep doing it, he'd be well advised to turn in a strong showing on Monday.

The Giants defeated Milwaukee 7-0 as a +150 underdog on Sunday. The seven runs scored fell UNDER the posted over/under total (10). Ryan Sadowski pitched six shutout innings and allowed only four hits in his Major League for San Francisco, while Nate Schierholtz was 4-5 with a solo home run in the win.

The Cardinals lost to Minnesota 6-2 as a -120 favorite on Sunday. The eight runs scored fell UNDER the posted over/under total (8.5). Jason LaRue was 2-4 with an RBI for St. Louis and Joel Pineiro gave up three earned runs on eight hits in 6 2-3 innings.

MLB Free Pick: Take the OVER 7 1/2 run total. One of these teams will break out with some runs. The Cardinals are always a scoring threat especially at home.