It’s Wednesday, July 9 and the Nationals (37-54) are in St. Louis to take on the Cardinals (49-43). MacKenzie Gore is slated to take the mound for Washington against Andre Pallante for St. Louis.
St. Louis won game 1 of the series, 4-2 after being shutout 11-0 on Monday against the Cubs. The Cardinals are looking to avoid three straight series losses as they are 2-5 in the past seven games.
Washington fired their manager and got out to an early 2-0 lead over St. Louis before allowing four unanswered runs. After the All-Star break, the Nationals could see that new management boost and see the second-half of the season as a new lease on a potentially lost year.
Let’s dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two. We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Follow Rotoworld Player News for the latest fantasy and betting player news and analysis all season long.
Game details & how to watch Nationals at Cardinals
- Date: Wednesday, July 9, 2025
- Time: 7:45PM EST
- Site: Busch Stadium
- City: St. Louis, MO
- Network/Streaming: MASN, FDSNMW
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Odds for the Nationals at the Cardinals
The latest odds as of Wednesday:
- Moneyline: Nationals (-103), Cardinals (-117)
- Spread: Cardinals 1.5
- Total: 8.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Nationals at Cardinals
- Pitching matchup for July 9, 2025: MacKenzie Gore vs. Andre Pallante
- Nationals: MacKenzie Gore, (3-8, 3.11 ERA)
Last outing: 5.1 Innings Pitched, 2 Earned Runs Allowed, 3 Hits Allowed, 4 Walks, and 2 Strikeouts - Cardinals: Andre Pallante, (5-4, 4.10 ERA)
Last outing: 7.0 Innings Pitched, 0 Earned Runs Allowed, 1 Hits Allowed, 2 Walks, and 3 Strikeouts
- Nationals: MacKenzie Gore, (3-8, 3.11 ERA)
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Nationals and the Cardinals
Rotoworld Best Bet Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) thinks the Nationals at plus-money will be a good bet the second-half of the season:
“Washington goes to Milwaukee after facing St. Louis, so that will be a tough series where one win will be an achievement considering how hot the Brewers have been.
However, to start the second half of the year, the Nationals host the Padres, Reds, then goes to Minnesota to face the Twins. You will likely be getting +150 or better on the ML in a lot of those games and -110 to -130 odds on the run line of +1.5.
This Nats squad will likely use new management as a boost and the All-Star break as a second lease on the season. While I don’t expect them to make a splash or dominate, they could surprise for the first 10-20 games of the second half.”
Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.
Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Wednesday’s game between the Nationals and the Cardinals:
- Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the St. Louis Cardinals on the Moneyline.
- Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Washington Nationals at +1.5.
- Total: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play on the over on the Game Total of 8.0.
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC.
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Nationals at Cardinals
- Washington is 7-11 in Gore’s 18 starts this year and are 1-4 in the last five
- The Cardinals have won 4 of their last 5 matchups against NL East teams
- The Cardinals’ last 3 versus the Nationals have stayed under the Total
- The Cardinals have covered the Run Line in 4 straight matchups against the Nationals
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
- Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
- Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
- Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)
