Cardinals vs Dodgers Free Pick, MLB Free Picks, MLB Predictions 8/4/25

ST. LOUIS @ LA DODGERS (LAD -185, 8.5)

MLB ODDS, MLB PREDICTIONS, MLB PREVIEWS

Cardinals vs Dodgers Free Pick, MLB Free Picks, MLB Predictions 8/4/25

CARDINALS @ DODGERS 8/4/25

The St. Louis Cardinals (56-56, 4th NL Central) travel to Los Angeles to play the first game of a three-game series against the Dodgers (64-47, 1st NL West) on Monday. On Sunday, the Cardinals finished up a weekend series with San Diego, taking a 7-3 loss to the Padres. The Dodgers won their series over Tampa Bay with a 3-0 win on Sunday. Jacob Buchberger and Nolan Arenado are out for St. Louis tonight. Enrique Hernandez and Max Muncy won’t play for the Dodgers.

The Cardinals are struggling. St. Louis is 2-6 in its last eight games. Part of the problem is at the plate where the Cardinals rank 13th in runs scored (492), 14th in batting average (.249), and 21st in slugging percentage (.389). Willson Contreras leads St. Louis with 15 home runs and 63 RBIs. Only four players for St. Louis have more than 41 RBIs.

On the mound, the Cardinals aren’t that much better. They rank 15th in terms of quality starts by their pitchers. They are 16th in WHIP (1.28), 19th in ERA (4.16), and 25th in batting average allowed (.256). With 10 victories and 133 strikeouts, Sonny Gray will start for St. Louis on Monday. He leads the Cardinals in both categories. The right-hander has a 4.38 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and a 10-5 record this season.

Los Angeles, on the other hand, is doing well at the plate. In four hitting categories, the Dodgers rank among the top six in MLB. Los Angeles ranks third in terms of on-base percentage (.329), slugging percentage (.440), and runs scored (573). With a batting average of .254, the Dodgers rank sixth. Shohei Ohtani leads Los Angeles in RBI (73), and home runs (38). Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernandez each have 64 RBIs and Pages has 19 home runs . Five players from Los Angeles have at least 50 RBI.

Where the Dodgers are struggling is on the mound. They have a number of pitchers out on the injured list. The Dodgers rank 23rd in WHIP (1.31), 20th in ERA (4.21), 24th in Quality Starts (31), and 17th in batting average against (.243). With nine victories, 133 strikeouts, and a 2.63 ERA, Yoshinobu Yamamoto leads Los Angeles in these metrics. He was the winning pitcher yesterday. Tyler Glasnow will take the mound for Los Angeles on Monday. The right-hander has a 3.38 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 49 strikeouts while going 1-1 this season.

The Cardinals have lost 11 of their last 14 away games, and, as mentioned, six of its last eight games overall. In their last six games in August, Los Angeles has won five of them. Keep in mind that Gray has struggled in three straight starts, allowing 30 hits and 17 runs in just 13.1 innings. St. Louis lost two of the three games. Glasnow, on the other hand, had four consecutive strong starts before struggling last time out, giving up four runs in four innings.

Get free MLB Picks and MLB Predictions for the top games on the weekly 2025 MLB schedule from JA Cavalier, one of the industry's premier expert MLB handicappers. J.A. Cavalier has been  bringing the MLB betting community the MLB free picks and predictions for nearly three decades. Visit daily for the best MLB money line and run line odds and game totals. 

FREE PICK: LA DODGERS TEAM TOTAL OVER 3.5 RUNS

The Dodgers are currently third in MLB in scoring, averaging 5.16 runs per game. Their offense, even without Max Muncy tonight, is loaded. Ohtani bats. 274 with 38 homers. Pages hits .277 with 19 home runs. Freeman - .306, 12 HR, 60 RBI and Will Smith hits a team-best .324 with 14 dingers. Sonny Gray is awful on the road - 5.84 road ERA. He’s also been awful as of late. In his last three starts, he’s given up 30 hits and 17 ER. Smith, Betts, Rojas, and the list goes on all have really good numbers against Gray. The Dodgers have gone Over 3.5 runs in 63 percent of their games this season, 70 percent of their home games. The last four times they hosted St. Louis - 5, 5, 6, and 7 runs.