Cardinals-Marlins prediction: Picks, odds on Monday, July 3

The St. Louis Cardinals (35-48) and Miami Marlins (48-37) will open a four-game series on Monday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET from loanDepot park in Miami, Florida. Veteran righty Miles Mikolas (4-5, 4.44 ERA) will take the mound for St. Louis against Marlins southpaw Braxton Garrett (4-2, 3.53).

Miami enters as the -135 moneyline favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook, making the Cardinals +115 underdogs with the over/under set at eight.

Cardinals-Marlins picks: Monday, July 3

Injury report

Cardinals

Out: RP Drew VerHagen (hip), SP Jake Woodford (shoulder), RP Ryan Helsley (forearm), RP Packy Naughton (elbow), OF Tyler O’Neill (back), RP Wilking Rodriguez (shoulder)

Marlins

Day to day: RP Matt Barnes (hip), OF Jazz Chisholm (oblique)
Out: RP Sean Nolin (undisclosed), RP Tommy Nance (shoulder), SP Edward Cabrera (shoulder), SP Johnny Cueto (biceps), SP Max Meyer (elbow), SP Trevor Rogers (shoulder), RF Avisail Garcia (back), RP Anthony Bender (elbow)

Starting pitchers

Miles Mikolas vs. Braxton Garrett

Mikolas will make his 18th start of the season, and he’s coming off a rough June. The righty allowed at least five runs in three of his last four outings and while giving up at least seven hits in all five starts last month.

Garrett will make his 17th appearance and 16th start of 2023. He has been very good this season aside from one start when he gave up 11 runs against the Atlanta Braves. Garrett allowed a combined three earned runs over his last four starts over 23.1 innings of work.

Over/Under pick

Mikolas hasn’t been very good as of late, but going up against Miami might be the recipe for a bounce-back game for him. The Marlins rank 27th in runs per game (4.0), and while the Cardinals have the better offense, not many pitchers are throwing better than Garrett right now. This is a strong position to bet on the pitchers on Monday night.

Pick: Under 8

Moneyline pick

It’s hard to bet against Garrett at this point with how dominant he’s been over his last four outings. Garrett allowed fewer than five hits in each of those starts, while Mikolas is certainly not throwing his best at this point of the season.