Detroit Tigers vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction 5/19/25 MLB Picks

The Detroit Tigers are visiting the Saint Louis Cardinals on Monday, May 19th at the Busch Stadium in the opening game of this series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Detroit Tigers vs Saint Louis Cardinals Prediction. We will examine:

The Saint Louis Cardinals’ recent form and player performance

The Detroit Tigers’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Saint Louis Cardinals

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Detroit Tigers

Recent betting trends in games played between the Detroit Tigers vs Saint Louis Cardinals

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Detroit Tigers vs Saint Louis Cardinals game

Saint Louis Cardinals Preview

The Saint Louis Cardinals have a 26-21 record this season and are sitting in second place in the NL Central. The Cardinals have a 15-6 home record and are 24-22 in over/under. They are coming off a 1-2 road defeat by the Royals, ending their previous three-game winning streak. Under is 6-2 in their last 8 games, and are playing the Diamondbacks and the Orioles next.

The Cardinals have a .262 batting average this season, a .334 OBP, and a .404 Slugging percentage. Saint Louis’ pitching staff has a 3.72 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. Brendan Donovan leads the Cardinals with 58 hits and a team-high .330 batting average. Wilson Contreras leads the team in RBI, with 26.

Sonny Gray (R) will take the mound for the Cardinals, and he has a 4-1 record, 4.50 ERA, and 1.18 WHIP. He has been better at home with a 3.57 ERA, but he is coming off his worst start of the season, where he gave up 7 runs in just 3.2 innings of work against the Phillies. Sonny Gray has a record of 4-2 with an ERA of 2.68 and 58 strikeouts in 10 appearances against the Tigers in his career.

Detroit Tigers Preview

The Detroit Tigers have a 31-16 record this season and are sitting in first place in the AL Central. The Tigers have a 14-11 road record and are 23-19 in over/under. They are coming off a 3-2 road victory over the Blue Jays, and are now 5-1 in their last 6 games. Over is 4-2-2 in their last 8 games and are playing the Guardians and the Giants next.

The Tigers have a .260 batting average this season, a .333 OBP, and a .424 slugging percentage. Detroit’s pitching staff has a 3.21 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. Riley Greene leads the Tigers with 49 hits, while Spencer Torkelson leads the team in RBI, with 38, adding a team-high 12 home runs.  Kerry Carpenter is the team’s best hitter with a .291 batting average.

Keider Montero (R) will take the mound for the Tigers, and he has a 1-1 record, 4.68 ERA, and 1.52 WHIP. He has been better on the road with a 4.15 ERA, and he is coming off back-to-back quality starts, where he gave up two runs in 12.1 innings of work. This will be his first career start against the Cardinals.   

Why the St. Louis Cardinals will win

• The Cardinals have won seven of their last eight games after playing the previous day.
• The Tigers have lost each of their last four night games against NL Central opponents that held a winning record.
• The Cardinals have covered the run line in 13 of their last 14 games.
• The Tigers have failed to cover the run line in each of their last six games following a win.
• The Tigers have trailed after 3 innings in four of their last five road night games.
• The Cardinals have led after 5 innings in each of their last four games against the Tigers at Busch Stadium.

Why the Detroit Tigers will win

• The Tigers have won each of their last five night games against the Cardinals following a win.
• The Cardinals have lost each of their last four games against American League opponents following a road loss.
• The Tigers have covered the run line in each of their last seven night games against the Cardinals following a win.
• The Cardinals have failed to cover the run line in five of their last six home games against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
• The Tigers have led after 3 innings in each of their last six games against opponents that held a winning record.
• The Tigers have led after 5 innings in each of their last six Monday games.
• The Tigers have won the first inning in each of their last three night games against opponents that held a winning record.

Total Runs Facts

• Each of the Cardinals’ last seven games after playing the previous day have gone UNDER the total runs line.
• Each of the Tigers’ last four night games after playing the previous day have gone OVER the total runs line.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Cardinals’ last seven night games against AL Central opponents.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in eight of the Tigers’ last nine games against NL Central opponents.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Cardinals rank 2nd in the league for doubles this season (91).
• The Cardinals rank 2nd in the league for batting average this season (.262).
• The Tigers rank 29th in the league for steals this season (20).
• The Tigers rank 4th in the league for runs scored this season (253).

Detroit Tigers vs Saint Louis Cardinals Prediction

The Tigers are 7-3 in their last 10 overall meetings against the Cardinals, and won their only series last season by 2-1 wins. They are 3-2 in their last 5 meetings in Saint Louis, and the over is 4-2 in their last 6 meetings.

In this Detroit Tigers vs Saint Louis Cardinals Prediction, the Cardinals are coming as -160 home favorites. The wrong team is favored in this spot, as the Tigers have a better overall record and have almost the same number of road wins as the Cardinals have at home. The Tigers also have a better bullpen and have a better batting average, both overall and against righties.

Montero is not a pitcher that I’m rushing to back, but he is coming off two straight quality starts, and has the fourth-best bullpen of the MLB to back him up, while Gray is coming off his worst start of the season. The value here lies with the road dog, so take the better team in the Detroit Tigers at plus money in this one.