Jul 7, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Brendan Donovan (33) walks into the dugout after scoring a run against the Washington Nationals during the second inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports
- Inching closer to the top of the NL Central standings, the St Louis Cardinals visit the Washington Nationals on Monday afternoon
- The inconsistent Miles Mikolas starts for the Cards against rookie Mitchell Parker for the Nats
- Below, see the Cardinals vs Nationals odds, predictions, and best bets on July 8
Since starting the season 15-24, the St Louis Cardinals (47-42, 23-24 away) have gone 32-18 and now sit second in the NL Central, just five games back of division-leading Milwaukee. On Monday, the Red Birds finish off a four-game set at the Washington Nationals (42-48, 20-23 home), looking to take three of four and record their sixth win in the last eight games.
First pitch on Monday is scheduled for 4:05 pm ET at Nationals Park.
With veteran Miles Mikolas on the mound opposite Washington rookie Mitchell Parker, the Cardinals vs Nationals odds for Monday are a pick’em.
St Louis Cardinals vs Washington Nationals Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Louis Cardinals (M. Mikolas) | -108 | -1.5 (+138) | O 9.5 (-100) |
| Washington Nationals (M. Parker) | -108 | +1.5 (-166) | U 9.5 (-122) |
Monday’s MLB odds list both teams at -108 to win. As the road team, the Cardinals are -1.5 on the runline with +138 odds to win my more than one run. The Nationals are priced at -166 to at least keep the score within a run.
The over/under is sitting at 9.5 with the under favored at -122.
Odds as of July 8 at FanDuel. Lock in a FanDuel promo code for Monday’s MLB games.
The Cardinals, the only team within ten games of the Brewers in the NL Central, have seen their MLB division odds grow as short as +360 in recent days.
Washington, which is fourth in the NL East, already 16 games behind the MLB-best Phillies, are +50000 to win their division and +2000 just to make the playoffs.
Miles Mikolas vs Mitchell Parker
| 6-7 | Record | 5-4 |
| 5.19 | ERA | 3.61 |
| 4.22 | xERA | 4.08 |
| 1.22 | WHIP | 1.10 |
| 17.3% | K% | 19.8% |
Mikolas had a rough start to the season, rocking a 6.19 ERA after eight starts through May 12. He lowered that to 4.59 over his next six starts but a disastrous outing against Cincinnati (12 hits, nine earned runs over 4.1 innings on June 27) bumped it back over five.
On the whole, he’s paired mostly-solid outings with a few debacles and a couple gems. In other words, it’s been very hard to predict what you’re going to get from the 35-year-old righty this season.
Mikolas hasn’t started against the Nats yet this year. Last season, he pitched a total of 10.0 innings against Washington, allowing just two runs on ten hits and a walk. But his overall numbers against the current Nats lineup isn’t great: in ABs, they have a .289 average and .838 OPS with three homers (two from Jesse Winker, one from CJ Abrams).
Rookie Mitchell Parker has come back to Earth since an electric start to his MLB career, when he went 2-1 with a 2.67 ERA over his first five starts, which included outings against the Dodgers, Astros, Rangers, and Orioles.
In his last three starts combined, he’s given up 11 runs on 17 hits and three walks over with 18 strikeouts over 17 innings.
A fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft, Parker has never faced any of the Cardinal hitters in his nascent career.
Cardinals vs Nationals Predictions & Picks
Counterintuitively, while the Cards are 5.5 games better than the Nats in the standings, Washington has a better run differential (-17 vs -39) and has scored 19 more runs while playing just one more game to date.
But the underlying numbers say that St Louis has a considerably more potent offense. The Cards rank higher in wRC+ (98 vs 93), wOBA (.303 vs .300) and slugging (.380 vs .371), while hitting more homers (84 vs 75).
It’s possible that Mikolas will put in one of his truly dreadful performances, but those have been few and far between in the last two months, and I expect him to at least equal the rookie Parker on the mound.
STL vs WSH picks: Cardinals moneyline + Nationals under 4.5 runs (+141 SGP at FanDuel)
Sascha was a hockey player in his youth, a lawyer in his capricious mid-20s, and has been with SBD since 2014. He specializes in football, basketball, politics, baseball, and hockey.
