The St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series in 2011, but return as just a shell of their former selves after losing demi-god Albert Pujols to free agency and manager Tony LaRussa to free agency.

The Milwaukee Brewers know a little something about that. After one of the most successful seasons in over 20 years, the Brewers let slugger Prince Fielder walk, taking with him the heart of the lineup and 230 career homers. Not long after, All-Star Ryan Braun was the center of the biggest PED scandal baseball has seen since Barry Bonds. The Brewers dodged a huge bullet when Braun’s suspension was lifted keeping the team from losing an average of 112 RBI a season.

Braun struggled in Spring Training, and MLB betting odds aren’t expecting a big day against the Cardinals. According to Bovada, the over/under for his total hits, runs and RBI is 2 1/2. Hitting a homerun is a +425 longshot.

Still, even though neither team will look all that similar to last year’s NLCS meeting, bad blood still remains.

“I think it’s still there a little bit,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke told the Associated Press. “But yes, personalities, when they leave, sometimes change how guys feel about that other squad. Even manager to manager – it is a little different not having Tony over there.”

The Cardinals are huge underdogs to repeat as champions, but start their quest at home Friday afternoon against the Brewers. They actually looked up to speed Wednesday night, beating the flashy Miami Marlins 4-1 on the road in the MLB opener.

Kyle Lohse took a no hitter into the seventh inning and struck out three.

Jaime Garcia follows up against Milwaukee against ace Yovani Gallardo, who went 17-10 with 207 strikeouts a season ago. Bovada is predicting around six strikeouts from Gallardo Friday, with a -130 payout if he cards less than that.

Bovada is favoring the Brewers by 1 1/2 runs, with a moneyline of -120.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Milwaukee Brewers Betting Odds For April 6th