The St. Louis Cardinals (43-53) visit the Chicago Cubs (45-50) on Thursday to kick off a 4-game series against their NL Central Division rival. First pitch from Wrigley Field is set for 8:05 p.m. ET (ESPN+). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Cardinals vs. Cubs odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: Cardinals lead 3-2
St. Louis won 6-4 as -107 home favorites Wednesday to complete a 3-game sweep of the Miami Marlins. The Cardinals are on a 5-game win streak and sit at 21-27 on the road. St. Louis is 2 1/2 games behind the Cubs for 3rd place in the division.
Chicago beat the Washington Nationals 8-3 Wednesday as -146 home favorites to win the series 2-1. The game was tied at 3 when the Cubs scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning. The Cubs have won back-to-back games, but are only 5-5 in their last 10. Chicago is 24-25 at home on the year.
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Cardinals at Cubs projected starters
LHP Steven Matz vs. RHP Marcus Stroman
Matz (0-7, 4.86 ERA) makes his 13th start. He has a 1.51 WHIP, 3.3 BB/9 and 8.6 K/9 in 76 innings.
- Last outing: No-decision, 4 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K in a 9-6 home win Saturday vs. the Washington Nationals
- Career vs. Chicago (regular season): 0-2, 3.92 ERA (20 2/3 IP, 9 ER), 22 H, 7 BB, 20 K in 4 appearances (3 starts)
Stroman (10-6, 2.88 ERA) makes his 21st start. He has a 1.09 WHIP, 3.2 BB/9 and 7.7 K/9 in 118 2/3 innings.
- Last outing: Win, 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 K in a 10-4 home win Saturday vs. the Boston Red Sox
- Career vs. St. Louis: 1-5, 4.96 ERA (49 IP, 27 ER), 61 H, 1.43 WHIP, 8.8 K/9 in 9 starts
Cardinals at Cubs odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 9:28 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Cardinals +110 (bet $100 to win $110) | Cubs -130 (bet $135 to win $100)
- Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Cardinals +1.5 (-190) | Cubs -1.5 (+155)
- Over/Under (O/U): 8.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Cardinals at Cubs picks and predictions
Prediction
Cardinals 6, Cubs 4
Moneyline
BET CARDINALS (+110).
The Cardinals are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings and are the hotter team — on a 5-game win streak and 8-2 in their last 10. The Cubs are only 2-3 in Stroman’s last 5 starts and 0-3 in his last 3 starts vs. St. Louis. While Matz is 0-7, the Cardinals are 3-2 in his last 5 starts.
Run line/Against the spread
PASS.
St. Louis should cover here but at +1.5 (-190) the line is not worth the juice, bet on the moneyline and/or O/U instead.
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Over/Under
LEAN OVER 8.5 (-110).
The Over is 5-1 in the Cardinals’ last 6 games and 2-1 in Matz’s last 3 starts while the Over is 9-1 in the Cubs’ last 10 games inclduing 8 straight. Also, the Over is also 2-0 in Stroman’s last 2 starts.
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