Cardinals vs Cubs Prediction and Betting Preview | June 23
The MLB schedule makers made us wait until late-June for the first Cardinals vs Cubs series of the 2025 season. Will these NL Central rivals bring the heat on a warm night in St Louis? The GoldSheet team offers its thoughts on tonight’s battle at Busch Stadium, which may feature fewer runs than the oddsmakers are projecting.
Cardinals vs Cubs Betting Preview
| Time | 7:45pm ET / 4:45pm PT |
| Stadium | Busch Stadium in St Louis |
| Weather | Warm and Clear with a Light Cross Breeze from Right-to-Left |
| MoneyLine | Pick’Em (-110 Each Way) |
| Total | 9 Runs (o -105 / u -115) |
| RunLine | Chicago -1.5 (+150) / St Louis +1.5 (-175) |
Chicago Cubs
Chicago just finished a wild series at Wrigley that saw 37 over the weekend. The Cubs enter Monday with a 4.5-game lead over the Cardinals in the NL Central. After this week’s series in St Louis, these teams will meet again in Chicago next weekend.
Starting pitcher Ben Brown has pitched a little bit better than his box score numbers would indicate. Brown’s expected ERA (4.43) is over a full run better than his actual ERA (5.57). Brown ranks in the top-third among pitchers in whiff rate and strikeout rate this season. After a rocky start to the season, Brown has allowed two runs or fewer in three of his last four starts.
St Louis Cardinals
Much like Brown, Matthew Liberatore has pitched a little better than his numbers would indicate. His expected ERA (3.63) is nearly a half-run better than his actual ERA (4.08). His 3.3-percent walk rate is one of the best in baseball and he hasn’t allowed multiple walks in a game since the first week of May.
Through out his four-year MLB career, Liberatore has consistently pitched better at home compared to the road. In his last start against the White Sox, Liberatore allowed two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks in 6.0 innings.
It’s a small sample size because he came out of the bullpen in his first few seasons, but Liberatore does have very good numbers against this Cubs’ lineup. In 26 plate appearances, he’s allowed a .182 batting average and just two extra-base hits.
Cardinals vs Cubs Prediction
We mentioned the wild series that Chicago just completed against the Mariners, so we’re going to stay away from the bullpens and focus on the first half of this game where both starting pitchers have the potential to string together some relatively-clean innings.
FIRST FIVE INNINGS UNDER 5 RUNS (-115)
Daily MLB Stat Sheet
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WagerTalk Live Odds Screen
WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the moneylines, runlines, totals and betting percentages for every MLB game this summer, including tonight’s Cardinals vs Cubs contest. Find free MLB picks every day through out the season on our free picks pages.
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