The St. Louis Cardinals (28-29) take on the Houston Astros (26-34) Monday in the opener of a 3-game set at Minute Maid Park at 8:10 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Cardinals vs. Astros odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: First meeting; Astros won 2-1 last year
The Cards come to town to renew their former NL Central rivalry with the Astros on a 3-3 road trip thus far. They dropped 2 of 3 in Philadelphia, but they beat the Phillies 5-4 in 10 innings Sunday night as +126 underdogs. St. Louis 2B Nolan Gorman went 2-for-4 with his 11th homer and 3 RBIs in the win. The streaky sophomore now has 3 HRs in his last 5 games.
The Astros lost 2 of 3 at home to the Minnesota Twins over the weekend. Sunday’s affair was a 4-3 setback as they continue to struggle offensively. They’re 14th in the league with 4.33 runs per game, per Teamrankings.com. They’ve plated 4+ runs just 3 times in 9 games. 3B Alex Bregman finally appears to be heating up with a 6-game hitting streak, including 4 multi-hit outings, and 3 HRs in the last 4 games.