The St. Louis Cardinals will look to draw even in the four-game series when they meet the Chicago Cubs in Game 2 on Friday. Chicago earned a 5-4 win in Thursday night’s opener, scoring three times in the ninth in a key National League Central Division matchup. The Cardinals (56-53), who have lost six of 10, are 26-25 during the day in 2024. The Cubs (53-58), who have lost five of nine, are 25-26 in day games this season. Starting pitcher Erick Fedde (7-4, 3.11 ERA), acquired from the White Sox earlier this week, is expected to make his debut for the Cardinals.
The game is slated to begin at 2:20 p.m. ET from Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Cardinals are hitting .247 as a team this season, 13th-best in MLB, while the Cubs are batting .234, 24th-best. St. Louis is a -115 favorite (risk $115 to win $100) on the money line in the latest Cardinals vs. Cubs odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total runs scored is 8. Before making any Cubs vs. Cardinals picks, be sure to see the MLB predictions and betting advice from SportsLine’s proven computer simulation model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every MLB game 10,000 times. It entered Week 19 of the 2024 MLB season 55-48 on all-top rated MLB picks this season. Dating back to last season, it is on a 24-11 roll on top-rated run-line picks (+877). Anybody following has seen strong returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Cubs vs. Cardinals and just locked in its picks and MLB predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model’s picks. Now, here are several MLB odds and betting lines for Cardinals vs. Cubs:
- Cardinals vs. Cubs money line: St. Louis -115, Chicago -105
- Cardinals vs. Cubs over/under: 8 runs
- Cardinals vs. Cubs run line: St. Louis -1.5 (+144)
- STL: The Cardinals have hit the game total Under in 17 of their last 28 away games (+6.00 units)
- CHC: The Cubs have hit the team total Under in 25 of their last 36 games at home (+13.00 units)
- Cardinals vs. Cubs picks: See picks at SportsLine
Why you should back the Cardinals
Left fielder Brendan Donovan is among St. Louis’ top hitters. In 103 games this season, he is hitting .263 with 22 doubles, one triple, nine homers and 51 RBI. He was 2-for-3 with three RBI and one run scored in a 10-1 win over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. He was 2-for-4 in a 14-3 loss to Washington on Saturday. Donovan has hit Cubs pitching well in his career. In 37 games against them, he is batting .294 with four doubles, one triple, one homer and 17 RBI.
Outfielder Tommy Pham, who was reacquired at the trade deadline from the Chicago White Sox, has been on fire since his return to the Cardinals, whom he played with from 2014 to 2018. In Wednesday’s 10-1 win over Texas, he was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI with two runs scored. He had two hits in Thursday’s loss to the Cubs. In 68 career games against Chicago, he is hitting .255 against the Cubs with five doubles, one triple, 11 homers and 34 RBI. See which team to pick here.
Why you should back the Cubs
Right-hander Javier Assad (5-3, 3.23 ERA) will start for Chicago. In 19 starts, he has allowed 86 hits, 34 earned runs and 42 walks with 86 strikeouts in 94.2 innings of work. He won his last outing, a 7-3 win at Kansas City on Sunday. In that game, he pitched six innings, allowing three earned runs, five hits and one walk, while striking out five. He faced St. Louis on May 26, suffering the loss in a 4-3 Cardinals victory. Assad went five innings, allowing five hits, four earned runs and three walks, while striking out eight.
Center fielder Cody Bellinger has been red hot since returning from the injured list (finger). He also has hits in eight of 10 games, including a five-game hitting streak. In a 13-4 win at Cincinnati on Wednesday, he was 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. He was 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBI in Tuesday’s 6-3 loss to the Reds. In 82 games this season, he is batting .280 with 16 doubles, one triple, 11 homers, 42 RBI and 44 runs scored. See which team to pick here.
