The St. Louis Cardinals will be looking for their third win in a row when they take on the New York Mets at Citi Field on Tuesday. This is the first game of a doubleheader, which means the starters should be out there.
Will St. Louis stay hot with a win over a New York team that has lost three of its last five? Keep reading our MLB betting picks and predictions to find out.
Cardinals vs Mets odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
The Cardinals and Mets hadn’t yet fully committed to their starting pitching for the first game in this doubleheader as of Tuesday morning, but St. Louis is an underdog of between +105 and +114.
The total is mostly out there at 8 in this game, with some sportsbooks even putting some juice on the Over at that number. However, there is one sportsbook that had left it at 7.5.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until first pitch and be sure to check out the full MLB odds before placing your bets.
Cardinals vs Mets predictions
Picks made on 5/17/2022 at 11:15 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Cardinals vs Mets game info
• Location: Citi Field, Flushing, New York
• Date: Tuesday, May 17, 2022
• First pitch: 7:10 p.m. ET
• TV:Bally Sports Midwest, SportsNet New York
Cardinals vs Mets betting preview
Starting pitchers
Miles Mikolas (3-1, 1.49 ERA): Mikolas is coming off a game in which he gave up one earned run in seven innings in a win over the Baltimore Orioles, and he has now allowed two or fewer earned runs in all seven of his outings on the year. Mikolas has also gone at least seven innings in three of his last four starts, so he is really in a groove. This is, however, something of an unexpected outing for him, so he might not have gone through his real routine.
Taijuan Walker (0-2, 5.73 ERA): Williams is more of an opener than a traditional starter for the Mets, so he’ll look to give New York three or four solid innings this afternoon. The righty has not been great this season, but he is coming off 3 2-3 shutout innings against the Washington Nationals on May 11. It was a nice way for Williams to bounce back after allowing three earned runs in 3 2-3 innings against the Atlanta Braves on May 4.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
Cardinals: Drew VerHagen P (Out), Jack Flaherty P (Out).
Mets: Tylor Megill P (Out), Trevor May P (Out), James McCann C (Out), Jacob deGrom P (Out), Sean Reid-Foley P (Out), Jake Reed P (Out), Joey Lucchesi P (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Cardinals are 15-6 in their last 21 road games against right-handed starters. Find more MLB betting trends for Cardinals vs. Mets
Cardinals vs Mets picks and predictions
Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.
Moneyline analysis
There’s been quite a bit of shuffling around as far as starting pitchers go in this one, but the Cardinals have a massive edge on the hill as things stand right now. Mikolas has made two starts — and three total appearances — against the Mets in his career, and he is 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA across those outings.
One of those starts was back on April 25 when Mikolas threw seven innings of shutout ball, striking out five in the process. When you couple all of that with the fact that he has been expertly limiting opponents this season, St. Louis has to feel good about having him toeing the rubber again.
The Cardinals are also coming off a game in which they scored 15 runs against the San Francisco Giants, and they now get a crack at Williams. The righty has allowed seven earned runs over his last 9 1-3 innings on the hill, and he’s somebody St. Louis could have a lot of success against early. The Cardinals are also Top 10 in MLB in runs scored against right-handed pitching, so it’s not like the splits are going against them.
Overall, this is great value to back a solid team with a huge advantage in the pitching department. New York is due for some regression to the mean after its red-hot start to the year, and we’ve already seen that in recent weeks. Look for it to continue a bit.
Prediction: Cardinals moneyline (+114 at WynnBET)
Over/Under analysis
Mikolas shut the Mets down in his last outing against them a couple of weeks back. The righty should turn in another good outing against New York, but that might look more like two or three runs over seven innings as opposed to another shutout.
The Mets have a very talented roster, and they should be able to make adjustments. Meanwhile, the Cardinals should have no trouble scoring a bunch of runs in this game. Williams doesn’t have the stuff required to shut this St. Louis offense down, nor does a Mets bullpen that has a middle-of-the-road 3.59 ERA this season — and we should see a lot of the relievers here.
The Over is also 3-2 in each of these team’s last five games, and it’s also 4-1-1 in the last six opening games of doubleheaders that St. Louis has played. On top of that, the Over is 6-2 in New York’s last eight home games, and it’s 4-1 in the team’s last five contests as a home favorite.
Prediction: Over 7.5 (-120 at DraftKings)
Best bet
While the total can probably go either way, it’s hard not to view the St. Louis moneyline as the best bet on the board. The Cardinals arguably have the better lineup than the Mets, and they are definitely throwing a more reliable starter out there.
As mentioned earlier, Mikolas already pitched seven shutout innings against this Mets team this season, and that was just a few weeks ago. Now, he’ll look to do it again at pitcher-friendly Citi Field. The righty should be able to give St. Louis seven good innings in this spot. Mikolas has done a great job in general at limiting damage, relying on pinpoint precision to get outs as opposed to overpowering stuff.
The Cardinals also happen to have a number of players who can do damage against Williams, who is a familiar face from his days with the Pirates. St. Louis’ team is a combined 37-for-115 with seven doubles, four homers, and 14 RBIs against Williams. Considering that number includes pitchers who have combined to go 0-for-8 against the righty, that’s quite impressive.
Keep an eye on Nolan Arenado, who has two homers in just nine at-bats against the righty in their brief head-to-head history. Yadier Molina can also be a guy that does a bit at the plate in this one, as he is 10 for 30 with four doubles against Williams in his career.
Pick: Cardinals moneyline (+114 at WynnBET)
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