Brewers vs. Cardinals: The best player props bets for Aug. 18

Another big NL Central division matchup takes place tonight with the Milwaukee Brewers (73-47) visiting the St. Louis Cardinals (61-57). The Cards sit four games back of the wild card, while the Brewers are running away with the division at the moment.

Milwaukee is coming off a 2-0 victory last night, and the two teams appear headed towards another pitching duel this evening with Freddy Peralta (9-3, 2.26 ERA, 162 strikeouts) on the hill for the Brewers and Jack Flaherty (9-1, 2.65 ERA, 72 strikeouts) getting the start for the Cards. Flaherty pitched well last week, picking up the win against Kansas City in his first start since May 31 after battling an oblique injury. He will look to put in a strong repeat performance to help his team bounce back and keep its playoff hopes alive.

First pitch is at 7:45 p.m. ET, and we have picks for our three favorite player prop bets below.

FREDDY PERALTA: OVER/UNDER 6.5 STRIKEOUTS

Peralta has been having quite the season so far. Opponents are batting just .141 against him and he's recording 12.22 strikeouts per nine innings, which is good for third best in the league. After a stellar first half of the season in which he earned All-Star honors for the first time of his career, Peralta has continued to stay hot as of late, totaling 17 strikeouts over his last two starts.

The Cardinals, however, are a sound team when it comes putting the ball in play as they have the fifth fewest strikeouts in the NL. Looking to continue this disciplined approach at the plate, we think the bats for St. Louis will prevail, and Peralta will be held Under 6.5 punch-outs.

PICK: UNDER 6.5 STRIKEOUTS (-113)

PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT: TOTAL RBIS OVER/UNDER 0.5

One player on the Cardinals that has had Freddy Peralta’s number so far is Paul Goldschmidt. He's racked up four hits, two home runs, and four RBIs in eight at bats against Peralta, and hasn't had a problem seeing the ball against the young right-hander. Furthermore, 52 of Goldy’s 68 RBIs this season have come against right-handed pitching.

PICK: OVER 0.5 RBIS (+175)

CHRISTIAN YELICH: TOTAL RUNS SCORED OVER/UNDER 0.5

Sticking with the bad matchup theme but this time on the Brewers side of the things, it’s Christian Yelich who seems to have the edge over Jack Flaherty. The lefty Yelich is batting .320 with an even stronger .393 on-base percentage over 28 plate appearances against the right-hander.

More recently, Yelich is carrying a dependable .355 OBP with five runs scored in his last seven games. Flaherty, who’s facing a much deeper lineup tonight compared to his last start against the Royals, may find it hard to keep a consistent player like Yelich from scoring a run or two.

PICK: OVER 0.5 RUNS (+100)