Two teams with diverging trends regarding their respective league wild card chances meet in a getaway day series finale today as the surging Baltimore Orioles visit the sliding St. Louis Cardinals. It's a 2:15 p.m. ET first pitch from Busch Stadium and one of two matinees on a light seven-game slate. Bet $5+ and get $200 in bonus bets when you bet on baseball at DraftKings:
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I'll just say from the get-go that I expect neither team to reach the postseason, and I doubt the players themselves on either side actually believe they will. The young Cardinals (66-68) have overachieved thus far, considering they had a season win total of just 69.5 this spring. They will blow past that number but are fading in dropping five straight to fall six games back of the National League's final WC spot and with a handful of teams ahead.
St. Louis is +3500 to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2022 in manager Oliver Marmol's first season. That's not happening, and I'm not sure Marmol makes it to next season if the Cards finish with a losing record for the third time in his five seasons. But the future looks bright, led by shortstop and NL Rookie of the Year co-favorite J.J. Wetherholt (+130), rookie outfielder Joshua Baez and maybe today's starting pitcher in 25-year-old lefty Cooper Hjerpe, who is expected to make his big-league debut.
Hjerpe was the No. 22 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft by St. Louis and is ranked as the No. 18 overall prospect in the organization â which has one of the best farm systems in the majors. Entering 2025, Hjerpe was the Cardinals' No. 6 overall prospect, and he would likely still be top 10 for many other teams. He was as a Golden Spikes Award finalist as a junior in 2022 at Oregon State but has fallen victim to some arm/elbow troubles as a professional. He has had a couple of surgeries, including Tommy John in spring of 2025 that caused him to miss last season and led his prospect rating to drop.
With Hunter Dobbins out with forearm tightness and rosters about to expand anyway, Hjerpe should get his shot today. This year. in 14 minor-league starts across four levels, he only has one decision (a loss) and a 3.08 ERA in 38.0 innings, obviously not going very deep and basically being used as an opener. Since moving to Triple-A Memphis, Hjerpe is 0-0 with a 0.60 ERA and .152 batting average against in four starts spanning 15.0 innings.
Being a bit of a lanky lefty with an unorthodox delivery and arm angle, Hjerpe has been compared to Atlanta's Chris Sale, the 2024 NL Cy Young winner. Like against Sale, lefties just can't hit Hjerpe at all, even though he doesn't throw super-hard, so he might be ticketed for the bullpen as a lefty specialist eventually. The Cardinals need reinforcements in the rotation, with both ace Andre Pallante and Dobbins now on the injured list.
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Orioles-Cardinals MLB same-game parlay
- St. Louis alt +2.5
- Under 1.5 first-inning runs
- Alt Under 10.5
FanDuel SGP price: +111 (subject to change)
Baltimore (65-68) is a game over .500 since the All-Star break despite trading Adley Rutschman, Taylor Ward, Dean Kremer and Tyler Wells at the deadline. It sits 2.5 games out of the AL's final wild-card spot and is +425 for the playoffs, with No at -575. If offseason big-ticket free-agent addition Pete Alonso had been raking earlier in the year like he is now, the O's probably wouldn't be below .500.
No road trips are easy, but the Orioles could make some noise on this nine-game trip as they visit two of MLB's worst teams after in the Athletics and Colorado. Baltimore better make hay now, because then the slate gets much tougher with every remaining series after those but one (vs. Mets) against a possible playoff team.
Lefty Trevor Rogers (9-8, 4.14 ERA) looks for a third straight quality start and victory â nine of his 12 quality starts in 2026 have come in the past 12. He has allowed three earned or fewer in 13 of his past 14 and tied a season high with seven innings pitched in a win over Tampa Bay last Friday. This same guy had a 2-6 record and 6.84 ERA through his first 10 starts this year.
Rogers had plenty of financial motivation for the turnaround, as he's a pending free agent and the Orioles listened in trade talks on him as well. He hasn't faced the Cardinals since 2024. while with the Marlins, and the model has Rogers at 5.9 innings, 4.9 strikeouts, 4.7 hits allowed and 1.9 earned runs. Jordan Walker, this year's All-Star Home Run Derby champion, is 1-for-1 off Rogers with a double and walk.
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I'm going a bit extreme with today's parlay because of some near-misses this week. So it's not a great price, but I feel good about it winning. Bit of a trap game for the Orioles perhaps in a getaway day and having used the bullpen plenty Wednesday. And having not seen the funky Hjerpe, perhaps he shuts them down the first time through the lineup. Winds are blowing in about 8 mph, so that helps on the two total plays. Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.
