The St. Louis Cardinals (7-3) and Miami Marlins (4-7) tussle in the Thursday finale of a 3-game series at loanDepot Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze Tipico Sportsbook‘s lines around the Cardinals vs. Marlins odds with MLB picks and predictions.
Season series: St. Louis leads 2-0.
St. Louis has allowed just 1 run in the first 2 games against Miami, and the Cardinals have won 4 of their last 5. Against the Marlins, the Redbirds are 8-0 over the last 2 seasons.
The Marlins own a .681 OPS with 2 big-output games and 9 unproductive contests. A solid Miami bullpen has kept the Fish in most games, but its 3.32 ERA is buoyed by a .221 batting average on balls in play.
Cardinals at Marlins: Projected starters
RHP Jordan Hicks vs. RHP Pablo Lopez
Hicks (1-0, 0.00 ERA) makes his first career start after 2 relief appearances so far this April. He has a 0.75 WHIP, 4.5 BB/9, and 11.3 K/9 in 4 IP.
- Expected to be limited to about 45 pitches in this outing.
Lopez (1-0, 0.87 ERA) makes his third start. He has a 0.97 WHIP, 2.6 BB/9, and 7.0 K/9 in 10.1 IP.
- Pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings against the Philadelphia Phillies in his last start Friday.
- Posted a 3.07 ERA in 102 2/3 IP last year. Owns a career ERA of 3.94 and a fine K/BB ratio of 3.5-to-1.
Cardinals at Marlins odds and lines
- Money line: Cardinals +115 (bet $100 to win $115) | Marlins -140 (bet $140 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Cardinals +1.5 (-190) | Marlins -1.5 (+155)
- Over/Under (O/U): 7.5 (O: -105 | U: -120)
Cardinals at Marlins picks and predictions
Prediction
Marlins 6, Cardinals 3
Money line
PASS. No real value to be found here.
Run line/Against the spread
The total is the more likable play for this game, but run-line bettors could do worse than this tag on the Marlins. With the Redbirds headed to Cincinnati postgame in this 3-city trip, perhaps some travel fatigue sets in.
And while its early, there is a bit of expected gravity in the analytics that should weigh down the Cards and buoy the Fish.
Consider a partial-unit play on MIAMI -1.5 (+155).
Over/Under
Fading both starters and both bullpens here. And making a play on Miami’s offense especially underperforming its indicators so far.
TAKE THE OVER 7.5 (-105).