The Washington Nationals host the St. Louis Cardinals on April 6, 2026. First pitch from Nationals Park is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on NATS.
The Cardinals are favored by -115 on the moneyline and by -1.5 on the run line. The Nationals are -104 on the moneyline and +1.5 on the run line. The total is set at 8 runs.
Find my MLB picks and Cardinals vs Nationals prediction below, as well as probable pitchers, weather report, and more.
Cardinals vs Nationals Prediction
- Cardinals vs Nationals Pick: Cardinals ML (-115)
My Cardinals vs Nationals best bet is St. Louis to win outright. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live MLB odds page.
Cardinals vs Nationals Odds
| Cardinals Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +141 | 8 -112o / -107u | -115 |
| Nationals Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -171 | 8 -112o / -107u | -104 |
- Cardinals vs Nationals spread: Cardinals -1.5 (+141), Nationals +1.5 (-171)
- Cardinals vs Nationals over/under: 8 (-112o / -107u)
- Cardinals vs Nationals moneyline: Cardinals -115, Nationals -1024
Cardinals vs Nationals Projected Starting Pitchers
| RHP Andre Pallante (STL) | Stat | RHP Zack Littell (WSN) |
|---|---|---|
| 1-0 | W-L | 0-1 |
| 0.1 | fWAR (FanGraphs) | -0.2 |
| 0.00/4.53 | ERA /xERA | 5.40/6.10 |
| 3.80/4.91 | FIP / xFIP | 9.20/6.49 |
| 1.20 | WHIP | 1.60 |
| 0.0% | K-BB% | -4.3% |
| 66.7% | GB% | 35.0% |
| 96 | Stuff+ | 85 |
| 92 | Location+ | 103 |
Cardinals vs Nationals Preview
While I give the Cardinals the starting pitching advantage in this matchup, with Andre Pallante (career 3.94 xERA, 3.97 xFIP, 7% K-BB%; projected FIP range of 4.09 to 4.32) grading out better than Zack Littell (career 4.46 xERA, 4.29 xFIP, 14.2% K-BB%; projected FIP range of 4.43 to 4.88), I show a much larger gap between these two bullpens.
Pallante defies a low K-BB% with one of the heavier groundball tilts in MLB (career 63.8%).
The relief arms for both teams have struggled to date (5.26 xFIP for St. Louis and 5.39 xFIP for Washington), but the Cardinals' projected relievers for Monday average a sub-four weighted FIP; conversely, the Nationals' relievers project closer to 4.5, with only the Rockies bullpen (4.55) ranking worse on Monday's slate.
Cardinals vs Nationals Picks
St. Louis has the better position player group, too, both offensively (projecting 4 points better in wRC+) and especially defensively; their defensive number ranks seventh among the 26 teams with a projection for Monday in my model.
Conversely, the Nationals rank last in defensive value on the slate, and the combined win probability of their negative defensive value and the Cardinals' positive contributions sums to more than a 2.5% impact on the projected win probability for this matchup — the difference between finding an actionable edge and passing on betting this game.
In a small sample this season, the Cardinals have produced 4 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and 3 Outs Above Average (OAA); conversely, the Nationals are sitting on -2 DRS and -4 OAA. Washington ranked 27th (-44 DRS) and 29th (-33 OAA) by advanced defensive metrics last season, while the Cardinals led MLB in OAA (36) and finished 19th with 5 DRS.
Pick: Cardinals ML (-115)
