Orioles vs. Cardinals Prediction & Picks: MLB Odds for Thursday, Aug. 27

Two teams fighting to earn their way into a wild card spot in their respective league do battle in the final game of a three-game interleague series as the St. Louis Cardinals host the Baltimore Orioles. My Orioles vs. Cardinals prediction expects a slugfest, so I’ve identified my top player prop from each team’s most feared sluggers to round out my MLB picks.

The starting pitching matchup is between Trevor Rogers and Cooper Hjerpe (making his MLB debut), with first pitch scheduled for 2:15 p.m. ET (ESPN Unlimited). The Orioles are -120 betting favorites.

⚾ Orioles vs. Cardinals picks & odds today

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🏆 Who will win Orioles vs. Cardinals?

St. Louis is five games over .500 (23-18) against left-handed starting pitchers on the season, and should put together enough offense to pull this interleague upset.

Score prediction: Cardinals 6, Orioles 4

💰 Orioles vs. Cardinals prediction & best bet

Over 8 (-110)

In Tuesday’s 13-1 victory, Baltimore recorded its highest margin of victory and tied its highest run total. St. Louis’ rotation is in flux, having not announced any starters before the series, and it already needed four relievers to get the final 15 outs in the series opener.

This is a much more confident wager if Samuel Basallo gets the day off from catching following a night game. Trevor Rogers has pitched to a 2.93 ERA and 1.122 WHIP when pitching to Basallo, and a 5.79 ERA and 1.393 WHIP when throwing to five other catchers.

🔥 Best Orioles vs. Cardinals player prop bet

Pete Alonso Over 0.5 RBIs (+171)

Few batters in the Majors have been hotter at the plate of late than Pete Alonso. In the series opener, Alonso logged his 10th career four-hit game, and his first since August 2025. And after yesterday's home run and two-RBI day, he is slashing .363/.463/.788 through his first 22 games (21 starts) at Busch Stadium, and his 1.251 OPS there was his highest among any of the NL ballparks.

Entering yesterday, Alonso was batting .500 with eight home runs, 18 RBI, and a 1.502 OPS in his last 15 games. All of that improved upon his impressive 147 OPS+ for the entire season.

The Mets must be kicking themselves over letting Alonso walk. Since 2019, he ranks first among all MLB players in games played, third in home runs, first in RBI, third in total bases, and third in barrels.

💣 Orioles vs. Cardinals home run prediction

Jordan Walker to hit a home run (+480)

Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker have 98 and 97 RBIs, respectively, as they seek to be the first Cardinals teammates with 100-plus RBIs in a season since Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt in 2022. But with the lefty Trevor Rogers toeing the rubber, I am much higher on Walker’s chances to go deep.

Rogers has allowed 14 home runs this year, 13 of which have been hit by right-handed batters. He has also followed a stellar July (one home run allowed in 30 ⅓ innings) with one homer allowed in four consecutive starts in August.

Entering Tuesday, Walker was fourth in the NL in total bases, top 20 in the Majors in wRC+, and improved his 89 OPS+ over his first three seasons to 139 this year.

🚀 Orioles vs. Cardinals same-game parlay

For the Over to cash, it would help if both teams' top sluggers have big days at the plate, which is why both player-prop legs of this same-game parlay work well with the total. While I am keeping my Alonso play to record an RBI, I am switching my Walker play from him to hit a home run to him simply recording one base hit.

There is great value on this parlay with two of the legs being plus-money plays, and Walker has hit safely in nine of 11 games with four multi-hit games in that span.

💵 My betting record for MLB picks

All MLB picks, including SGPs, have been tracked since March 26.

💡 How I'm betting Orioles vs. Cardinals: MLB strategy

Follow all of our MLB analysis and expert predictions for baseball season.

My confidence in my top game prediction with the Over cashing is largely tied to whether or not Samuel Basallo is behind the plate, since that has a direct impact on Rogers' performance. I'll be checking the lineup when it comes up, but there is a chance Basallo catches since he played first base yesterday. If that is the case, the Over is only a play at 8 runs, and I would pass at 8.5 or higher.

I also preferred Pete Alonso's Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBIs wager to him simply driving in a run until I saw the odds. The best price to back the H/R/RBI wager is -134 (57.26% implied odds) at DraftKings. That makes his +171 odds when isolating just the RBI prop at the same sportsbook seem like a steal.

📊 Live Orioles vs. Cardinals odds

Plenty of the best sports betting sites still don't have Cooper Hjerpe listed as St. Louis' starting pitcher. Because of that, it wouldn't be surprising to see the moneyline move in Baltimore's favor as bettors are assured of its plans to send Trevor Rogers to the mound. Thus far, 59% of the wagers have backed the road favorites.

The total is evenly split between 8 and 8.5 at the best MLB betting sites. FanDuel lowered from an opening number of 8.5 to 8, while bet365 has bounced back and forth between the two numbers since last night. The Over has attracted 62% of bets so far, making it the second-most bet side of any total on today's seven-game slate.

📈 Orioles vs. Cardinals betting trends

🚑 Orioles vs. Cardinals injuries

📺 How to watch Orioles vs. Cardinals

• Date: Thursday, Aug. 27
• First pitch: 2:15 p.m. ET
• Ballpark: Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
• TV: ESPN Unlimited
• Streaming: MLB.TV
• Orioles starter: Trevor Rogers (9-8, 4.14 ERA)
• Cardinals starter: Cooper Hjerpe (0-0, 0.00 ERA)