Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (21-19) at Washington Nationals (17-23)
Time: 12:35pm CT Sunday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Miles Mikolas (1-2, 4.76 ERA) vs MacKenzie Gore (2-3, 3.33 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Nationals -155, Cardinals +130
Total: 8.5 (over -110, under -110)
Will Eight Be Great For Cardinals?
The St. Louis Cardinals look to extend their winning streak to eight games when they take on the Washington Nationals this afternoon.
The Redbirds have already secured their first road series win of the season, and now they’ll be going for the sweep today against a Washington team that has lost four in a row.
Cards' Starting Pitching On Fire
Miles Mikolas will be on the hill today for the Cards looking to complete an excellent turn through the starting rotation. Over the last four games, Matthew Liberatore, Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde, and Andre Pallante have each earned a win while pitching at least 7 innings. They have gone a combined 30.1 innings while allowing just 3 earned runs on 16 hits with 4 walks and 31 strikeouts (0.89 ERA, 0.66 WHIP).
Mikolas has given up 3 earned runs or less in six of his seven starts this season. He also has a 2.97 ERA in six career games at Nationals Park, and current Nationals hitters on their roster are batting just .235 in 81 career at-bats against Mikolas.
Gore Has Been Great
The Nationals give the ball to MacKenzie Gore in today’s series finale. The left-hander has been terrific this season, as he leads all of MLB in strikeouts with 68 K’s in only 46 innings.
Gore’s underlying numbers are even better than his real numbers. His 3.33 season ERA comes with a 3.10 xERA, 2.77 FIP, and 2.43 xFIP.
My Pick
I’m going to go with the first five under today.
Great starting pitching can be contagious, and I would imagine Mikolas is extra motivated today to complete this fantastic full turn through the rotation. He has been a whipping boy for many Cardinals fans (myself included), but all he has done is give this team a chance to win every time out except for one. And if you bet the first five under in all of his starts, your record would be a strong 5-2.
Gore is obviously a tough customer, so I think the first five under is a solid play today. I would definitely NOT take the full game under, as the Nationals rank last in MLB with a 7.12 bullpen ERA.
Pick: Under 4.5 in the first five innings at -115 on DraftKings (bet to -120)
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Friday on the Sports Hub STL YouTube channel. Follow him on X @GamblingDads, and click here for his daily picks on all of our St. Louis area sports teams. Picks = betting the game - minus odds betting to win 1 unit, plus odds risking 1 unit. Leans = no strong opinion, not betting the game. Disclaimer