The Detroit Tigers (19-22) and St. Louis Cardinals (18-17) are scheduled to do battle in a stand-alone doubleheader at Busch Stadium Thursday. Game 1 is slated for a 2:15 p.m. ET start. We analyze the Tigers-Cardinals betting odds and lines, with MLB picks and best bets.
Tigers at Cardinals: Projected starting pitchers
LHP Tarik Skubal vs. RHP Jack Flaherty
Skubal is a 23-year-old rookie making his fifth start. The 6-foot-3 southpaw has recorded a 4.70 ERA and 1.24 WHIP through his first 15 1/3 innings.
- Best start of the four is the one closest in the rear-view mirror — 6 IP-2 H-1 ER-1 BB-6 K vs. Minnesota Twins Sept. 5.
Flaherty owns a nifty 2.95 ERA on the strength of an 0.98 WHIP and a year-to-year uptick in control (2.5 BB/9 in 2020) and the ability to induce ground balls (48% of batted balls in 2020).
- The Cards’ truncated schedule has held Flaherty to just 21 1/3 IP (5 starts).
- Is coming off a shaky 2 2/3-inning start at Wrigley Field (Sept. 4: six base runners, 3 ER).
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Tigers at Cardinals: Key injuries
Get the latest injury news here.
Tigers
- 3B Harold Castro (hamstring) out
- 1B C.J. Cron (knee) out
- 3B Niko Goodrum (oblique) out
- OF JaCoby Jones (hand) out
Cardinals
- OF Dexter Fowler (personal) out
Also see: BaseballHQ Fantasy Baseball
Tigers at Cardinals: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Moneyline (ML)
There’s a nice price on the Cardinals. So much so, we might expect it to move higher, but the Redbirds make sense into the low -220s.
St. Louis owns a solid .761 OPS against port-siders, and that’s a figure tamped down by a .277 BABIP. Looking at Flaherty’s game-by-game history, a bounce-back return to form isn’t a slam dunk, but it’s more likely than not (and in a -200 kind of percentage). Back the CARDINALS (-213).
New to sports betting? A winning $100 bet on the Cardinals returns a profit of $46.95.
Run line/Against the spread (ATS)
The odds here play into a price which is paved over by the Tigers +1.5 (-139)/Cardinals -1.5 (+115). Move on to something else.
Over/Under (O/U)
The total here reflects the seven-inning nature of this contest (2020 doubleheader rule). The St. Louis bullpen is overvalued with a 3.78 ERA, the weatherman calls for a humid day in the Gateway City, and these offenses can support a 7-plus margin. Tag the OVER 6.5 (+110) as a lean.
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