The St. Louis Cardinals (25-37) and Texas Rangers (40-20) cap off a 3-game set Wednesday at Globe Life Field. First pitch is at 8:05 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Cardinals vs. Rangers odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: Rangers lead 2-0
The Cardinals continue to find ways to lose baseball games as they have dropped 5 straight and 8 of 10. Monday, it was a baserunning blunder that killed a rally that should have put them ahead in the 8th inning. Tuesday, it was missing a cutoff man on defense to allow extra runs to score. It’s June 7, and they have the worst record in the National League.
The Rangers keep truckin, even as news broke Tuesday that ace RHP Jacob deGrom is out for the season due to Tommy John surgery. Texas has won 8 of 10 and 15 of 20 to lead the AL West. They are also thriving in their home ballpark at 21-8.
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Cardinals at Rangers projected starters
RHP Jack Flaherty vs. RHP Jon Gray
Flaherty (3-4, 4.55 ERA) makes his 13th start of 2023. He has a 1.52 WHIP, 5.0 BB/9 and 9.1 K/9 in 63 1/3 innings.
- Last 2 starts: 1-1, 1.46 ERA (12 1/3 IP, 2 ER), 13 H, 2 BB, 10 K
- Has 1 career start vs. Texas back in 2019 (no-decision, 6 IP, 2 ER)
- Better on road at 1-2 with a 3.52 ERA vs. 2-2 with a 6.12 ERA at home
Gray (6-1, 2.51 ERA) makes his 12th start. He has a 1.04 WHIP, 2.8 BB/9 and 7.1 K/9 in 64 2/3 innings.
- Last start: Win, 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K Friday in 2-0 home victory vs. Seattle Mariners
- Has won 5 straight starts; hasn’t faced St. Louis since 2018
- 2-1 with a 3.10 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in 5 home starts vs. 4-0, 2.02 ERA, 0.87 WHIP in 6 road starts
Cardinals at Rangers odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 1:36 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Cardinals +120 (bet $100 to win $120) | Rangers -145 (bet $145 to win $100)
- Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Cardinals +1.5 (-165) | Rangers -1.5 (+135)
- Over/Under (O/U): 9 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Cardinals at Rangers picks and predictions
Prediction
Rangers 5, Cardinals 4
Moneyline
The Cardinals have some reasons for hope here. They have been competitive in the series. Flaherty has pitched much better of late, only allowing 2 ER and 2 BB in 12 1/3 IP his last 2 starts.
However, Gray has been a buzzsaw of late. He hasn’t allowed more than 1 ER in each of his last 5 starts. I’ll take the RANGERS (-145).
Run line/Against the spread
The Cards have played a ton of 1-run games lately. The problem is they’re a laughable 6-14 in them. Over the last 10 games, they have 8 losses and 5 of the 1-run variety. But I’m not paying -165 because I have that little faith in this version of the Cardinals to keep it within a run or win outright.
PASS.
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Over/Under
The Cards haven’t cashed an Over in the last 4 games and just 1 in the last 10. According to Covers.com, the Under is 6-0-1 in the last 7 head-to-head meetings in Texas and 8-1-2 in the last 11 meetings overall.
We’re projecting a push here, so head to the Win/Total section and take RANGERS AND UNDER 9.5 (+200) for a chance to double up.
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