St Louis Cardinals vs LA Dodgers Odds, Picks & Starting Pitchers for Sunday Night Baseball
- The Cardinals and Dodgers close out a four-game series on Sunday Night Baseball tonight
- The Dodgers are sizable favorites in an uninspiring pitching matchup
- See the St Louis Cardinals vs LA Dodgers odds, picks, predictions, and starting pitchers for March 31
Tonight, the St Louis Cardinals (1-2, 1-2 away, 2-1 O/U) close out a four-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers (3-2, 2-1 home, 3-2 O/U) in the first Sunday Night Baseball game of the 2024 season.
After starting the season with back-to-back losses, and getting outscored 13-4, the Cardinals got in the win column yesterday with a 6-5 extra-innings victory over LA. Oddsmakers heavily favor the Dodgers taking the final game of the series on Sunday night, despite trotting out an untested starter.
Cardinals vs Dodgers Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Louis Cardinals | +140 | +1.5 (-142) | O 8.5 (-120) |
| LA Dodgers | -166 | -1.5 (+120) | U 8.5 (-100) |
The Dodgers are -166 chalk in Sunday’s MLB odds with the Cardinals at +140 to earn a split in the four-game series. The over/under is listed at 8.5.
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Odds as of March 31. Claim the Fanatics Sportsbook promo to bet on Sunday Night Baseball.
After a busy offseason that included acquiring Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers are listed as +542 favorites in the World Series odds. At +3383, the Cardinals are right in the middle of the 30-team MLB pack.
LAD vs STL Starting Pitchers for Sunday Night Baseball
The pitching matchup for the fourth and final game of the series sees both teams reaching deep into their rotations. The Cardinals send veteran Steven Matz to the bump opposite young Gavin Stone for the Dodgers.
Matz is coming off of one of the better seasons in his nine-year career, posting a 3.86 ERA with a 1.33 WHIP in 105 innings. His career ERA is still well over four (4.25).
Stone pitched 31 innings last year, his first in the bigs. He had an inflated 9.00 ERA and 1.90 WHIP in that small sample size.
Steven Matz vs Gavin Stone
| 4-7 | Record | 3-6 |
| 3.86 | ERA | 9.00 |
| 3.87 | xERA | 6.40 |
| 1.33 | WHIP | 1.90 |
| 21.8% | SO% | 14.5% |
*All statistics in table from 2023 regular season.
Matz doesn’t have terribly encouraging numbers against the Dodger lineup. In 127 total at-bats, LA’s hitters are slashing .268/.316/.425 against the 32-year-old lefty. He has limited them to just three homers, though, with Freddie Freeman, Kiki Hernandez, and Teoscar Hernandez each taking him yard once.
Matz faced the Dodgers once in 2023, taking the loss in a 5-0 LAD victory. Matz went 4.2 innings, allowing six hits and two walks but limiting the damage to just one (unearned) run.
Stone, a 25-year-old righty, has never faced any of the Cardinal batters.
Nolan Arenado is hitless in 11 at-bats through three games this season. Paul Goldschmidt is 3-for-10 and drove in the game-winning run in the 10th inning last night. Giovani Gallegos picked up the save, striking out the first two batters he faced in the 10th before getting Ohtani to pop out to end the game.
STL Cardinals vs Dodgers LA Prediction
Stone didn’t look ready for the majors last season, and even his triple-A numbers were a little concerning: 100.2 innings, Stone posted a 4.52 ERA and 4.78 xFIP in 2023. With a little major-league time under his belt, it’s possible he starts 2024 much more effectively. But that’s not something I’m prepared to bet on.
While Matz isn’t a pitcher I back often, he’s done a solid job of keeping the Dodgers hitters in the park during his career. I expect him to give the Cardinals a significant advantage in the starting-pitching matchup, and I am going to bet St Louis on the first 5 innings moneyline as a result.
STL vs LAD picks:
- Cardinals first 5 innings moneyline (+124)
- Nolan Arenado over 0.5 hits (-215)
Sascha Paruk’s 2023-24 MLB betting record: 2-0 (+1.54 units)
All wagers one unit unless expressly stated otherwise.
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.
