The St. Louis Cardinals host the Chicago Cubs for Sunday Night Baseball on May 31, 2026. First pitch from Busch Stadium is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on NBC/Peacock.
The Cardinals are -116 on the moneyline and +1.5 (-196) on the run line. The Cubs are -102 on the moneyline and -1.5 (+162) on the run line. The total is set at 8.5 runs (-106 / -114)
Find my MLB picks and Cubs vs Cardinals prediction below, as well as probable pitchers, weather report, and more.
Cubs vs Cardinals Prediction
- Cubs vs Cardinals Pick: Over 8.5 (-110 or Better)
My Cubs vs Cardinals best bet is on the Over. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live MLB odds page.
Cubs vs Cardinals Odds
| Cubs Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +162 | 8.5 -106o / -114u | -102 |
| Cardinals Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -196 | 8.5 -106o / -114u | -116 |
- Cubs vs Cardinals moneyline: Cubs -102, Cardinals -116
- Cubs vs Cardinals over/under: 8.5 (-106 / -114)
- Cubs vs Cardinals spread: Cubs -1.5 (+162), Cardinals +1.5 (-196)
Cubs vs Cardinals Probable Pitchers
| Jordan Wicks (LHP, CHC) | Stat | Matthew Liberatore (LHP, STL) |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 | W-L | 2-3 |
| 0.0 | fWAR (FanGraphs) | 0.2 |
| 16.62 / 5.81 | ERA / xERA | 4.76 / 5.43 |
| 5.14 / 4.10 | FIP / xFIP | 4.65 / 3.93 |
| 16.7% | K-BB% | 12.5% |
| 41.2% | GB% | 39.0% |
| .500 | BABIP | .350 |
| 95 | Stuff+ | 99 |
| 117 | Location+ | 100 |
Cubs vs Cardinals MLB Betting Preview
The Cubs and Cardinals provided some fireworks on Friday night, with St. Louis stealing a 6-5 win.
But the Cubs responded with a 6-1 win on Saturday, giving us the ideal Sunday Night Baseball rubber match.
My betting angle for this match focuses on the poor pitching matchup.
The Cardinals will trot out burly lefty Matthew Liberatore, who owns some concerning earned run indicators (4.76 ERA, 5.43 xERA, 4.39 botERA), alongside a gross batted-ball profile (44% hard-hit rate allowed, 22nd percentile; 92 MPH average exit velocity allowed, 7th percentile).
Opposing Liberatore is fellow southpaw Jordan Wicks, who has mostly struggled across his 99 innings with the Cubbies (5.71 ERA, 4.67 xERA, 4.30 xFIP). Noteworthy for Wicks is that his fastball velocity was down a tick in his 2026 debut (93 MPH, 94 MPH career).
Cubs vs Cardinals Pick, Betting Analysis
Chicago’s bats have started to wake up, as the Cubbies have posted a 115 wRC+ over the past week or so.
While the Cardinals have slumped during the same span (52 wRC+), they have some talent at the top of the order between Jordan Walker, JJ Wetherholt, and Co. They’re in a good bounce-back spot against Wicks.
At the same time, Liberatore has allowed three or more runs in four of his past six outings.
If each starter allows three runs, the bullpens should gift us enough runs to cash the Over 8.5 — for what it’s worth, both relief units rank among the bottom-10 MLB teams in bullpen fWAR, and both have put in some decent work during this series.
Pick: Over 8.5 (-110 or Better)
