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The St. Louis Cardinals (22-29) will need a win over the Cincinnati Reds (21-28) to split this four-game series on Thursday afternoon after Cincy flew to a 10-3 victory on Wednesday night. This matchup will get started at 12:35 p.m. ET from Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. Miles Mikolas (2-1, 4.77 ERA) will get the ball for St. Louis, while struggling righty Luke Weaver (1-2, 6.54 ERA) goes for the Reds.
The Cardinals are -165 moneyline favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, making Cincinnati a +140 underdog with the over/under set at 10.
Cardinals-Reds picks: Thursday, May 25
Injury report
Cardinals
Out: OF Dylan Carlson (ankle), OF Tyler O’Neill (back), SP Jake Woodford (shoulder), SP Packy Naughton (forearm), RP Wilking Rodriguez (shoulder)
Reds
Out: OF Henry Ramos (hip), RP Derek Law (elbow), RP Casey Legumina (ankle), SP Nick Lodolo (leg), RP Reiver Sanmartin (elbow), RP Fernando Cruz (shoulder), SP Connor Overton (elbow), 1B Joey Votto (shoulder), SP Justin Dunn (shoulder), RP Tony Santillan (back), SP Vladimir Gutierrez (elbow), RP Tejay Antone (forearm)
Starting pitchers
Miles Mikolas vs. Luke Weaver
Mikolas isn’t having as productive of a start to this season as he did in 2022 (3.29 ERA) through 10 starts but the righty did have a decent outing in his last appearance. He allowed three runs on six hits with two strikeouts over seven innings in a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Weaver will make his seventh start of the season, and it’s been a struggle for him. He allowed at least four runs in five of six starts as he looks to turn things around in year one with Cincinnati.
Over/Under pick
The Cardinals have a great chance at putting up a high number on Thursday afternoon with a great matchup against a struggling pitcher. St. Louis is inside the top five in slugging percentage (.441) and on-base percentage (.335). Weaver has been allowing a ton of baserunners, and the Cardinals will do their part in helping exceed this total.
Pick: Over 10
Moneyline pick
I don’t know how you could go into this matchup with much confidence in Weaver with a growing sample size. He’s given up multiple home runs in half of his six starts and allowed at least seven hits four times. The Cardinals should knock him around pretty good and pick up a victory in this spot.
Pick: Cardinals