St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Monday’s St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs sports betting odds and lines, with MLB betting picks, tips and best bets.

The St. Louis Cardinals (17-15) close out a five-game set with the Chicago Cubs (23-18) with a Labor Day matinee at 4:10 p.m. ET at Wrigley Field. Below, we analyze the Cardinals-Cubs MLB betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.

Cardinals at Cubs: Projected starting pitchers

RHP Johan Oviedo vs. RHP Kyle Hendricks

Oviedo is a big, right-handed, rookie fire-baller making his fourth career start. A Cards’ top-15 prospect, the 22-year-old owns a 4.30 ERA and 0.96 WHIP through 14 2/3 innings

  • Has allowed a mere .195 batting average on balls in play, and that’s not the only metric that foreshadows some trouble. Batted-ball data indicates a 50% hard-hit rate which is high.

Hendricks has registered a 3.78 ERA and 1.12 WHIP through 50 innings. The consistent right-hander owns a sub-2.50 ERA over his home starts the last two years (2019-20).

  • Averages 95 pitches per start and figures to help a Cubs bullpen in closing out a taxing weekend.
  • Current St. Louis batters own an aggregate .631 OPS, .109 isolated power against the 11-year veteran.

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Cardinals at Cubs: Key injuries

(Get the latest injury news here.)

Cardinals

  • RP Jordan Hicks (elbow) out
  • OF Dexter Fowler (illness) out

Also see: BaseballHQ Fantasy Baseball

Cardinals at Cubs: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips

MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 1 p.m. ET.

Moneyline (ML)

The Redbirds are a strong play despite the surface look of the starting pitching matchup. The usually solid Hendricks has had some hiccups when following a 100-pitch outing and/or back-to-back efforts over 95. The last nine times that scenario has applied, the next-time-out start has resulted in a 6.33 ERA.

On the whole, the Cubs’ record is over-performing production by a few clicks; the opposite holds true for a St. Louis nine. The price on the visitors is right: Back the CARDINALS (+160).

New to sports betting? A winning $100 bet on the Cardinals returns a $160 profit.

Run line/Against the spread (ATS)

The run line tag on St. Louis — +1.5 (-143) — is a bit pricey. PASS.

Over/Under (O/U)

Monday’s Wrigley Field weather calls for a seasonal low-70s temp, low humidity, and a double-digit pitcher’s breeze in from center. The lean here is slight and on the UNDER 7.5 (-110).

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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Friday’s St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs betting odds and lines with MLB betting picks, tips and best bets.

The St. Louis Cardinals (14-14) and Chicago Cubs (22-15) renew their rivalry in a Friday night game (8:15 p.m. ET) that jump-starts a five-game, holiday-weekend, wraparound series at Wrigley Field. Below, we analyze the Cardinals-Cubs MLB betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.

Cardinals at Cubs : Projected starting pitchers

RHP Jack Flaherty vs. RHP Yu Darvish 

Flaherty owns a 1.93 ERA through four starts (19 IP).

  • Logged a 2.48 ERA in 36 IP against Chicago in 2019. Cubs batters own an aggregate and whiff-heavy .680 OPS against Flaherty.
  • The Redbird righty, still just 24, owns a 3.13 ERA through 71 career games. He’s 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA and a .125 opponents’ batting average in three starts since the team restarted from a two-week COVID-19 shutdown.

Darvish has posted a 1.47 ERA and 1.00 WHIP through seven starts. The ace righty hasn’t yielded more than a solo earned run in a game since July 25.

  • Has thrown 100-plus pitches in three of last four starts.
  • Has registered an elite 16.5% swing-and-miss rate, which would rank as the best of his career by a 2.5% margin.

Get some action on this game or any other matchup in the 2020 season with an MLB bet at BetMGM in NJ, IN, CO and WV. Bet now!

Cardinals at Cubs: Key injuries

(Get the latest injury news here.)

Cardinals

  • RP Andrew Miller (shoulder) out
  • OF Dexter Fowler (illness) out
  • RP Genesis Cabrera (finger) questionable
  • Matt Wieters (toe) questionable

Cubs

  • OF Ian Happ (eye) doubtful
  • Matt Wieters (toe) questionable

Also see: BaseballHQ Fantasy Baseball

Cardinals at Cubs: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips

MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 12:15 p.m. ET.

Moneyline (ML)

Figure on both the Cubs (.595 winning percentage) Cardinals  (.500) being more like .525 clubs. The Darvish pitch counts are a mild concern. ST. LOUIS +130 has some marginal value.

New to sports betting? A winning $10 bet on the Cardinals returns a profit of $13.

Run line/Against the spread (ATS)

A juice-filled line – CUBS -1.5 (+145)/CARDINALS +1.5 (-176) – here doesn’t offer an enticing price on the St. Louis lean.

Over/Under (O/U)

The early indication on the weather for this one is for a breeze out to right. Darvish is a fly-ball type for Chicago. Both bullpens trend toward lofty batted balls also. And both starters (and the Cards pen) appear to be due for some regression. Add in a St. Louis offense with room (and reason) for growth and a Cubs nine that bashes right-handers. TAKE THE OVER 8 (-110).

Want some action on this game? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting tips and advice, visit SportsbookWire.com.

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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Wednesday’s St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs sports betting odds and lines, with MLB betting picks, tips and best bets.

The St. Louis Cardinals (5-6) and Chicago Cubs (15-7) battle in another doubleheader Wednesday with Game 1 starting at 2:20 p.m. ET at Wrigley Field. We analyze the Cardinals-Cubs betting odds and lines, with MLB picks and best bets.

Cardinals at Cubs: Projected starting pitchers

RHP Jack Flaherty vs. RHP Alec Mills

Flaherty won his only start of the season July 24 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team’s season opener. He allowed two earned runs, six hits and no walks with six strikeouts in seven innings in that outing.

  • Flaherty threw 62 of his 89 pitches for strikes in his only outing, throwing first-pitch strikes to 17 of the 27 batters he faced.
  • Flaherty posted a 2-1 record with 40 strikeouts and a sparkling .151 opponent batting average in 36 1/3 innings in six starts against the Cubs in 2019.

Also see: BaseballHQ Fantasy Baseball

Mills has made three starts for the Cubs so far this season, going 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 14 strikeouts across 19 innings.

  • Mills allowed four earned runs, five hits and a walk with seven strikeouts across six innings against the Milwaukee Brewers last time out on Aug. 14, his only non-quality start of the season.
  • The Cubs pitching staff ranks seventh in the majors with a 4.02 ERA and fifth in the league with a 1.13 WHIP.

Get some action on this game or any other matchup with an MLB bet at BetMGM in NJ, IN, CO and WV. Bet now!

Cardinals at Cubs: Key injuries

(List of injuries around the league)

Cardinals

  • SS Paul DeJong (COVID-19) out
  • C Yadier Molina (COVID-19) out
  • OF Tyler O’Neill (finger) questionable

Cubs

  • 3B Kris Bryant (wrist) out
  • 3B Daniel Descalso (ankle) out
  • OF Steven Souza Jr. (hamstring) out

Cardinals at Cubs: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips

MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 10:20 a.m. ET.

Prediction

Cardinals 3, Cubs 2

Moneyline (ML)

The CARDINALS (-121) look to get back on track after dropping the past two. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Flaherty, as the Cards were out of commission from July 30 to August 14 due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

In fact, it has been 26 days since Flaherty has pitched, so there could be some rust. But he threw an extra bullpen session after the team’s 13-day layoff and is reportedly ready to go. No worries here backing Flaherty and the CARDINALS (-121) against the Cubs (+110).

Run line/Against the spread (ATS)

The Cardinals (-1.5, +150) are not a recommended play, especially coming off two losses, but the Cubs (+1.5, -183) are also not the way to go. Plus, run-line plays are risky in doubleheaders with just seven innings scheduled. PASS.

Over/Under (O/U)

UNDER 6 (+105) is the way to go in Game 1. Flaherty and Mills have both posted decent numbers, albeit in a small sample size. We’re scheduled for just seven innings in each end of the double dip, so lean to the Under.

Want some action on this game? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting tips and advice, visit SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @JoeWilliamsVI on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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