Cardinals-Mariners prediction: Picks, odds on Friday, April 21

The St. Louis Cardinals will begin a 10-game road trip out west tonight when opening a three-game set at the Seattle Mariners. First pitch is set for 10:10 p.m. ET at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, WA. Steven Matz (0-2, 6.48 ERA) will step on the hill for the Cards while George Kirby (1-1, 3.78 ERA) will start for the M's.

Seattle is a -130 moneyline favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, while St. Louis is a +110 underdog. The run total is set at 8.

Cardinals-Mariners picks: Friday, April 21

Cardinals

Day to day: SS Brendan Donovan (lower leg)

Out: SS Paul DeJong (back), RP Wilking Rodriguez (shoulder), RP Packy Naughton (forearm)

Mariners

Out: UTIL Sam Haggerty (concussion), RP Andres Munoz (shoulder), UTIL Dylan Moore (oblique), OF Taylor Trammell (hand)

Steven Matz vs. George Kirby

Matz has had a below average start to the year so far as the Cardinals have lost all three games where he's taken the mound. He did have a quality start against the Pirates last Saturday, giving up just two earned runs on three hits in 5.2 innings of work. Splits-wise, he has struggled against the very top of orders as leadoff batters are 4-for-7 with a home run and two RBI against him. He has been poor with runners on base and that's something he has to fix starting this evening.

After a poor season debut, Kirby has been solid in his last two starts and got the win in a 9-2 blowout victory over Colorado last Saturday. He went 6.1 innings against the Rockies, yielding six hits and two earned runs before letting the bullpen take over. Hitters are batting .346 against him in their first at-bats during games but .192 in their second at-bats. He's shown an ability to adjust midway through games, but just needs to clean things up in the first three innings.

Both of these clubs were able to get a decent amount of runs across in their last three respective outings. The Cardinals in particular got 24 runs across as a team in their three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier in the week. With two starting pitchers that have been shaky in the early goings of games on the mound, expect the runs to come in early.

Pick: Over 8

Seattle is trying to pick itself up after a three-game sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers and I think they got off the snide tonight. As mentioned before, Matz has struggled against the top of the order and facing the likes of Julio Rodriguez and Ty France right out the gate could lead to a short night for him. Take the M's to come out on top.

Pick: Mariners

  
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