Cash Out Sports Picks rode St. Louis despite Miles Mikolas’ recent struggles. The logic: Washington has dropped four of five overall and 10 of 14 on the road, and the Cards own the matchup—eight wins in their last nine against NL East foes and a prior sweep of the Nats in May. Nationals starter Michael Soroka was bombed for nine runs his last time out and Washington has lost each of his past five starts. Even with Mikolas giving up 14 runs in his last two games, the tout trusts St. Louis’ momentum and the Nats’ shaky form.

It's The Final Round highlighted CJ Abrams as the best way to exploit Miles Mikolas on Thursday. Mikolas has been shaky in June and July and is yielding a .295 average to left-handed hitters. Abrams, the Nationals’ lefty leadoff man, is 8-for-28 (.286) with eight runs scored over his last eight games. More importantly, he has torched Mikolas historically: 5-for-13 with a homer, good for a .385 average. Because Abrams often hits leadoff and rarely drives in runs, the tout suggested bettors can consider both hit and "to score a run" props in addition to the standard single hit line.

Eric Pathi said tomorrow’s Nationals are an automatic bet at roughly +120 because they fit his long-standing "dog that won" system. The logic is simple: when an underdog wins outright and is listed as an underdog again the very next day, you blindly back them regardless of pitchers, line-ups, or ERA. He noted Washington was up 7-1 in the seventh inning at recording time, and books had already hung another plus-money price for the following matchup against St. Louis. Pathi believes avoiding favorites and riding this back-to-back underdog spot produces long-term profit, so he is taking Washington again if tonight’s result holds.

Doubling down on his Nationals love, Lindquist suggested looking at James Wood total bases or home-run props against Miles Mikolas, whom he labeled "awful, terrible, horrible, no good, very bad." Mikolas’ declining strikeout rate leaves him vulnerable to Wood’s prodigious power—underscored by a 443-foot blast the rookie just launched earlier in the day. Even with slightly milder weather in St. Louis, the matchup and ball-in-play profile remain firmly in Wood’s favor, and the Cardinals’ bullpen provides little relief once Mikolas exits.

Lindquist encouraged looking at CJ Abrams (and fellow lefty James Wood) props when the Nationals visit St. Louis. He called Miles Mikolas "awful, terrible, horrible, no good, very bad," and noted that even with milder weather in St. Louis, the matchup still heavily favors Washington’s high-impact left-handed bats. With Soroka showing improved strikeout stuff on the other side, the Nationals’ offense is the piece he wants exposure to, and Abrams’ combination of pop and speed makes him his preferred target.

Dylan Rockford grabbed the Cardinals at –110, saying the market is still hanging a Nats-friendly line it cannot justify. He power-rated St. Louis –125 even with MacKenzie Gore on the mound because Washington is spiraling off the field—firing both GM and manager less than a week before the draft and openly shopping the franchise—and on the field, losing each of Gore’s last three road starts. Rockford credited Gore for solid underlying stuff but expects him to exit after 90-ish pitches, forcing a bullpen that owns the NL’s worst ERA since June 1 (5.46) to cover the final three innings. The Cardinals quietly hit .265 at Busch this season and profile well against Washington’s relievers, ranking top-10 in hard-hit rate over the past two weeks. Rockford is comfortable playing St. Louis down to –120 and expects late offense to tilt a tight game in the Redbirds’ favor.

Scott Reichel took Washington first-five moneyline at +100 and paired it with Under 8.5. He called MacKenzie Gore "objectively more talented" than Matthew Palante and pointed to Gore allowing two or fewer earned in eight of his last ten non-Dodger starts. Palante’s 16.8% K-rate and pitch-to-contact approach could backfire against a Nats lineup that ranks top-10 in contact percentage. Reichel also questioned why St. Louis opened as high as –125 given its .305 wOBA at Busch and a bullpen sitting 23rd in SIERA. With both starters trending toward quality starts and light winds deadening fly balls, he projects a 3-2 Washington lead after five and a 4-3 final, recommending the F5 play down to –105 and the full-game under to 8.

The host grabbed St. Louis at –110 in a pick-’em and explained the edge. MacKenzie Gore’s career line against the Cards is brutal—29 hits and 20 earned runs in only 21 innings (8.57 ERA). Even in Gore’s breakout 2024 campaign St. Louis tagged him for four earned in five innings on May 11th, and Willson Contreras plus Masyn Winn are a combined 11-for-21 off him. Andre Pallante counters for the Cardinals and is uniquely suited for Washington’s left-heavy order, holding lefties to a .214 average overall and a .195 average/.286 slugging at Busch Stadium thanks to a sinker/slider mix that bores in on southpaws. St. Louis owns a 27-17 home record while Washington is 19-26 on the road, and the bullpen matchup tilts heavily toward the Cards—Washington ranks bottom-five in reliever ERA. With home-field, bullpen and matchup advantages, Just A Bet Outside made the Cards moneyline a half-unit play.

Malcom Bamford targeted Masyn Winn’s anytime-homer market, noting that Nationals starter Jake Irvin has already served up 20 long balls, the fourth-highest total in the league. Bamford’s logic is simple: if Irvin is going to keep coughing up gophers, pick a Cardinal with emerging pop at a juicy price. Winn fits the mold—he owns a 42% hard-hit rate since June 1 and is barreling the ball at a top-three clip on the club over the past three weeks. With warm midsummer conditions in St. Louis and the Cardinals projected for a healthy 4.8 implied runs, Bamford thinks Winn’s HR prop (anywhere from +650 to +750 in early markets) is worth a sprinkle.

Malcom Bamford skipped the full-game total and isolated St. Louis’ team total over instead. He highlighted that totals in Jake Irvin’s four most recent outings have reached 18, 24, 24 and 10 thanks largely to Washington’s starter being battered early. The Cardinals swept the Nats in May by a 20-3 margin and now get Irvin on the road, where he has yielded 4+ earned in three of his last four. While Bamford concedes St. Louis’ bats cooled on their nine-game trip, he expects a bounce-back in their first game back at hitter-friendly Busch. Washington is surrendering 2.5 runs per game offensively across their last ten, so Bamford prefers targeting the Redbirds’ offense rather than trusting the Nats to help an over. He projects 5-6 St. Louis runs and played the Cards’ team-total over at anything 4.5 or lower.

Ron Pick Dawgz is comfortable laying both money-line and run-line with St. Louis. Andre Palante has allowed two or fewer runs in four of five starts, sporting strong ground-ball rates and solid control—an ideal profile versus a Nationals lineup that leads MLB in ground-ball percentage. Conversely, Jake Irvin owns an ERA near six on the road, ugly expected stats, and the current Cardinal hitters carry a .550+ xSLG against him. Ron called it a “pretty big pitching advantage,” making St. Louis the bet.

Eric Lindquist advised bettors to attack the Cardinals –1 alt-run-line at –130 on DraftKings because he views Tuesday’s matchup as a lopsided pitching duel. Lindquist called Jake Irvin “a mirage” whose peripherals have cratered: a 5.34 expected ERA, .525 expected slugging, and 47.9 % hard-hit rate. By contrast, Sonny Gray gives St. Louis a massive edge and should keep Washington’s contact-oriented lineup in check. Lindquist noted the Cardinals’ bats rarely miss hittable pitches and expects them to capitalize on Irvin’s elevated barrel profile, making a one-run victory the floor. He explained the proper split-stake approach (moneyline plus –1 run slider) but prefers the pre-built –1 market for simplicity.