With only a few games remaining in the regular season, the St. Louis Cardinals will face off on the diamond with a longtime division rival in the Milwaukee Brewers. Join us for our MLB odds series where our Cardinals-Brewers prediction and pick will be revealed.

It certainly has been a nightmare season to say the least, but the Cardinals have a chance to finish strong to secure some much-needed momentum heading into 2024. As it stands, St. Louis is a horrendous 68-88 and will be missing out on the postseason festivities for the first time since 2016. In line for the start in Milwaukee for the Red Birds will be lefty Zach Thompson who is 5-7 with a 4.57 ERA.

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers are moments away from clinching the NL Central with an 88-68 record, and their magic number to officially call themselves division title champions sits at one game over the Chicago Cubs. With the NL Central throne on the line in this one, Milwaukee will plan to call upon RHP Adrian Houser who is 7-4 with a 4.35 ERA.

Here are the Cardinals-Brewers MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Cardinals-Brewers Odds

St. Louis Cardinals: +1.5 (-144)

Milwaukee Brewers: -1.5 (+120)

Over: 8.5 (-120)

Under: 8.5 (-102)

How To Watch Cardinals vs. Brewers

TV: Bally Sports Midwest/Bally Sports Wisconsin

Stream: MLB.TV

Time: 7:40 ET/4:40 PT

*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Cardinals Could Cover The Spread

Things haven't gone as planned if you're a St. Louis Cardinal in the summer of 2023, but regardless, there is still a chance to finish strong and spoil the Brewers' fun on Tuesday evening.

If they are going to cover the spread and improve upon their 73-82 record ATS, then they will need to be able to bounce back in a big way after getting routed 12-2 against the Padres. In that disheartening defeat, it was the Cardinals that surrendered a whopping 18 hits on the outing and were also abused whenever the Padres had men in scoring position.

Without a doubt, the main reason for St. Louis shocking struggles after being a playoff team annually for the past several years has been their steep decline as a pitching unit which ranks 24th in team ERA with a 4.77 mark and are allowing hitters to hit a lofty .279 off of them this season. In order to take care of business on this Tuesday evening, relying on starter Zach Thompson to pitch a quality start and hold a hefty Brewers squad in check will prove to be critical.

All in all, St. Louis still holds plenty of star power within their lineup with the likes of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Gorman for example. With the Red Birds having to place stars Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras on the injury list, it will be up to Goldschmidt and Gorman who have combined for 52 home runs to pose a significant threat with their sticks.

Why The Brewers Could Cover The Spread

On the other side of things, the Milwaukee Brewers head into this one on the cusp of baseball glory. After winning the NL Central in 2021, Milwaukee is one win or Chicago Cubs loss away from officially returning to the top of the division. However, St. Louis will definitely not let Milwaukee walk all over them in this one, and the Brew Crew will need to give it their all to scratch and claw their way to a spread-covering victory on this Tuesday.

At first glance, the Brewers are an underwhelming 76-79 against the spread this season, but they aren't far removed from smashing the Marlins 16-1 three games ago and blowing out the Cardinals in three of four games nearly a week ago. While the Brewers may be in the midst of a two-game losing streak, this is a roster that often pitches to perfection and can often record timely hits when the team needs it the most.

All in all, the bread and butter of this Milwaukee squad is their elite pitching staff that arguably may be most prolific in all of baseball. With a collective 3.75 ERA on the year along with the top batting-average-against when opposing enemy batsmen, the key to victory in this one will once again be to get in a rhythm on the mound from the get-go. The last time Houser faced off with the Cardinals coming six days ago, he was absolutely brilliant as he shined in six innings pitched en route to only surrendering a single run on four hits. Since Milwaukee's batting lineup is often inconsistent and unreliable, the path to covering the spread may in fact fall on the right arm of Adrian Houser and his ability to baffle the birds.

Final Cardinals-Brewers Prediction & Pick

There is certainly no love between these two squads, and there has been plenty of competitive matchups over the years. However, the Brewers are playing for something and the Cardinals are not. Side with the better team in Milwaukee and you should not think otherwise.

Final Cardinals-Brewers Prediction & Pick: Brewers -1.5 (+120)