The San Francisco Giants host the St. Louis Cardinals on September 22, 2025. First pitch from Oracle Park is scheduled for 9:45 p.m. EDT; the game will be broadcast on NBCS-BA.
Find my MLB betting preview and Cardinals vs Giants prediction below, as well as probable pitchers, betting trends, injury reports and more.
My Cardinals vs Giants Prediction
- Cardinals vs Giants picks: Under 7.5
My Cardinals vs Giants best bet is on the under. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live MLB odds page.
Cardinals vs Giants Odds
| Cardinals Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -170 | 7.5 -125o / 105u | +125 |
| Giants Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +145 | 7.5 -125o / 105u | -150 |
Cardinals vs Giants Projected Starting Pitchers
| RHP Michael McGreevy (STL) | Stat | RHP Justin Verlander (SF) |
|---|---|---|
| 7-3 | W-L | 3-10 |
| 1.3 | fWAR (FanGraphs) | 2.4 |
| 4.08 / 4.47 | ERA /xERA | 3.75 / 4.16 |
| 3.75 / 4.20 | FIP / xFIP | 3.71 / 4.62 |
| 1.20 | WHIP | 1.34 |
| 10.7% | K-BB% | 12.7% |
| 46.5% | GB% | 33.4% |
| 91 | Stuff+ | 106 |
| 110 | Location+ | 94 |
Kenny Ducey’s Cardinals vs Giants Preview
St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview: McGreevy Showing Lots of Promise
Sometimes a guy just does his job, and that's the best thing we can say about young Michael McGreevy. The rookie has rolled up ground ball after ground ball, ranking just outside the top quarter of the league in that department, and he's let the fourth-best infield defense in the league go to work behind him.
That's why I'm willing to look past a worrisome .284 Expected Batting Average and .455 Expected Slugging here. There's a ton of contact with McGreevy's low strikeout and walk rates, which have influenced these metrics, but he's still recording outs — and he's also the owner of a 3.57 ERA since the calendar turned to August.
He was touched up by this same Giants offense just a few starts ago, but things have taken a turn for the worse at the plate for San Francisco. The Giants are hitting just .183 in the last two weeks and have the 10th-worst average against ground-ballers, so a nine-hit, two-homer performance seems unlikely to repeat itself.
San Francisco Giants Betting Preview: Verlander: The Ageless Wonder
Justin Verlander has always gotten better with age, so it shouldn't be surprising that this 2025 season has aged quite well for him. The veteran had a 4.53 ERA going into August, but all he's done since then is shove. His ERA is now comfortably under four runs at 3.75, and he's allowed just one run on 10 hits in 20 innings this month.
This is a daunting task for just about any offense right now, but the Cardinals are in a particularly rough spot. Verlander's biggest weaknesses over the years have been walks and homers, but St. Louis is running just a 7.1% walk rate and .099 Isolated Power in the last two weeks.
This isn't a team that has been built around power, anyway, and it's not a park where we see a ton of longballs.
So, things should continue to go well for Verlander. The whiff rate has come down a bit this month, but his xBA stands at just .222 this month to represent his best of the year. St. Louis isn't stinging the ball and it's not getting on base, so there's no reason why Verlander can't induce a bunch of flyouts and cruise.
Cardinals vs Giants Prediction, Betting Analysis
Both of these offenses have fallen on hard times, with the Giants actually coming in much colder than the Cardinals despite the lack of juice in St. Louis. San Francisco is hitting just .183 in the last two weeks, making it hard to believe McGreevy — who has been known to give up hits — will falter here.
Equally important is its 10.9% walk rate and 25.4% strikeout rate, because it exemplifies how poorly-disciplined this team has been at the plate. McGreevy should pump in strikes all game long and let this spacious park — and his elite defense — do the rest.
These guys probably won't be able to offer much in the form of run support, however, with Verlander taking on a team that's struggled even more in plate discipline and which has lacked power all year. That's enough for me to believe in both pitchers here; I wouldn't read too much into McGreevy's purported luck.
Pick: Under 7.5 (+100) | Play to -112
Moneyline
I'll pass on the moneyline.
Run Line (Spread)
Two lacking offenses? Doesn't tickle my fancy.
Over/Under
To me, from the pitching, to the poor offenses, I think it's fair to say we get a low scoring game.
