The St. Louis Cardinals will go for their fourth win in five games when they take on the Minnesota Twins at Busch Stadium on Saturday.
St. Louis, which won the series opener 5-1, will send Jake Woodford to the mound as a -135 home favorite versus a Twins team that has dropped five of its last six contests.
Find out who we like with our free MLB betting picks and predictions for Twins vs. Cardinals on July 31.
Twins vs Cardinals game info
• Location: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO
• Date: Saturday, July 31, 2021
• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
• TV: FS1
Twins vs Cardinals odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
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Twins vs Cardinals betting preview
Starting pitchers
Bailey Ober (1-1, 5.19 ERA): Ober has been rather productive in his last few trips to the mound, as the righty has given up three or fewer earned runs in three of his past four outings. Minnesota has lost each of the last two games he has started, but that can’t all be pinned on him. If Ober is giving the Twins five innings of two-run ball, that’s easily good enough for the team to pull through. He just needs a little run support.
Jake Woodford (3-4, 3.52 ERA): Woodford recently made the switch from the bullpen to the rotation and the results have been pretty solid for the righty. Woodford has pitched a total of 10 2-3 innings over two starts, and he has given up only four earned runs. The Cardinals will be hoping to get five or six innings out of him here, and he’ll just need to make sure he can avoid mistakes. The Twins have power against right-handed pitching.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
Twins: Byron Buxton OF (Out).
Cardinals: Nolan Arenado 3B (Questionable), Jordan Hicks RP (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Twins are 4-1 in their last five interleague road games against right-handed starters. Find more MLB betting trends for Twins vs. Cardinals.
Moneyline pick
Ober and Woodford aren’t the most inspiring options in the world for either of these teams, but both have been giving their clubs chances to win as of late.
It’s not likely either of these starters will go out and dominate their opponents, but one of these pitchers can make a mistake that dooms them in a game like this. Each of these starters is good for five or six innings of quality pitching, but one of them will likely slip up and it’s hard to see it not being Woodford.
Woodford has given up three homers over his last 12 2-3 innings of work and was a bit prone to the long ball when he was coming out of the bullpen. Against a Twins team that hits righties hard, he could allow a few to leave the ballpark here.
Keep an eye on Max Kepler in this game, as the lefty slugger has hit 12 of his 14 bombs against right-handed starters this year. Also, Jorge Polanco does his best work against righties, too. The switch-hitter is batting .270 with 10 homers and 29 RBIs against right-handed starters this season.
PREDICTION: Minnesota (+134)
Over/Under pick
The Cardinals have gone Under the total in four of their last seven games, but one of those Overs would have pushed on this line.
Only four teams in the league have scored fewer runs than St. Louis this season, meaning you shouldn’t expect much nightly firepower from the Cardinals.
Meanwhile, while the Twins are 12th in the league in scoring this year, they did lose their biggest bat at the trade deadline. Minnesota dealt Nelson Cruz away, which should really impact the team’s offense.
Overall, it’s hard to envision these two lineups producing an Over in this one, regardless of who is on the mound.
PREDICTION: Under 9.0 (-120)
Twins vs Cardinals betting card
- Minnesota (+134)
- Under 9.0 (-120)
Picks made on 7/31/2021 at 9:17 a.m. ET
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