Sunday Night Baseball is generally reserved for one of the better games on the MLB schedule, and a matchup between two bitter rivals should ensure that it lives up to the hype tonight. The St. Louis Cardinals will host the Chicago Cubs for the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday, and the pitching matchup will be Shota Imanaga vs. Sonny Gray. The Cardinals (59-59) won Game 1 of the series 5-0 on Friday, and then the Cubs (67-49) responded with a 9-1 victory on Saturday in Game 2.
Now the latest Cardinals vs. Cubs odds list Chicago as the -129 favorite, while St. Louis is a +108 underdog. The over/under for total runs scored is 7.5, and first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET. Before making any Cubs vs. Cardinals picks, be sure to see the MLB betting predictions from SportsLine’s proven model. Bet on Cardinals vs. Cubs and every other MLB game at DraftKings, using the latest DraftKings promo code, which offers new users $200 in bonus bets instantly plus over $200 off NFL Sunday Ticket:
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every MLB game 10,000 times. It entered Week 20 of the 2025 MLB season 28-23 on top-rated MLB money-line picks. It has excelled in making home run prop picks this season, returning nearly 50 units of profit. Anybody following at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen strong returns. Also see the model’s picks for Twins vs. Royals and its top MLB player props for Sunday.
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Here are the model’s best bets for Cardinals vs. Cubs on Sunday:
- Cubs to win (-129)
- Sonny Gray over 2.5 earned runs allowed (+113)
Cubs to win (-129)
Imanaga is 8-4 on the season with a 3.12 ERA and has recorded 70 strikeouts over 89 1/3 innings. He’s coming off a strong start against the Reds, where he only surrendered one run and struck out seven over 6 1/3 innings for a no-decision. He also threw five scoreless innings and allowed only one hit for a win over the Cardinals on June 26 in his first game back from a hamstring injury that cost him nearly six weeks. Meanwhile, the Chicago offense came alive with nine runs and 13 hits yesterday, and the model has the Cubs winning in 62% of simulations on Sunday.
Sonny Gray over 2.5 earned runs allowed (+116)
Gray is a three-time MLB all-star and is coming off one of his best starts of the year, holding the high-powered Dodgers to one earned run over seven innings while striking out eight in a 3-2 win. However, he had been roughed up for 17 earned runs over his previous three starts (13 1/3 innings), and opponents are hitting .272 against him at home as opposed to .240 on the road. The over has hit in four of his last five starts, and the model predicts that he allows 3.0 earned runs on average tonight.
Want more MLB picks for Sunday?
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