San Diego Padres vs St Louis Cardinals Prediction, Preview and Odds - 07/25/2025

Game Time: 7:15 pm ET, Friday, July 25, 2025

Venue:  Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO

Where to Watch:  PADRES.tv, FDSMW

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds:  Padres -132, Cardinals +108; Over/Under:  8 runs

Bet365:  Moneyline odds:  Padres -140, Cardinals +120; Over/Under:  8 runs

BetMGM:  Moneyline odds:  Padres -140, Cardinals +120; Over/Under:  8 runs

San Diego Padres:  55-47 (2nd place, NL West)

St Louis Cardinals:  52-51 (4th place, NL Central)

Do not miss out on our expert handicapper analysis! Team Del Genio is on a HOT STREAK in the MLB on a 5-0 MLB RUN for +$5,000 PROFIT! Make sure you check out his picks and many more from the expert handicappers featured in the Shop Picks section.

San Diego Padres:  6-4 last 10

St Louis Cardinals:  3-7 last 10

The Padres are entering this series off a loss and lost their 3-game series against the Miami Marlins 2-1 in their last series. They enter this game with a 55-47 record overall and have a road record of 24-29. This is the 2nd game of a 4-game series with the Cardinals on Friday with the series opener still to be played on Thursday. Their offense ranks 23rd in the MLB with a .688 OPS. Yu Darvish is their starting pitcher on Thursday while Nick Pivetta is making his start in this game on Friday. He is 10-2 with a 2.81 ERA this season. His team won 4 of their last 5 games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season start, he allowed 1 ER, 1 HR, and 1 BB with 5 SO on 3 hits through 6 IP against the Washington Nationals.

The Cardinals are entering this series off a loss and lost their 3-game series against the Colorado Rockies 2-1 in their last series. They enter this game with a 52-51 record overall and have a home record of 29-20. This is the 2nd game of a 4-game series with the Padres on Friday with the 1st game of this series still to be played on Thursday. Their offense ranks 15th in the MLB with a .714 OPS. Sonny Gray is their starting pitcher on Thursday while Miles Mikolas is making his start in this game on Friday. He is 5-7 with a 5.20 ERA this season. His team lost 2 of their last 3 games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season start, he allowed 5 earned runs, 2 homers, and 2 walks with 3 strikeouts on 4 hits through 4 innings pitched against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The current betting odds have the Padres listed as a favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Padres have looked good in their games this season with their 55-46 record overall which has them right near the top of the NL West. They haven't been a great road team though with their 24-28 road record this season. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have looked good in their games this season with their 52-50 record overall which has them right in the middle of the NL Central. They have also looked a lot better in their own ballpark this year with their 29-20 home record. The Padres have been starting to get hot though, going 6-4 in their last 10 games while the Cardinals are only 3-7, and the Cardinals just lost their last series to the worst team in the MLB. They are going to have Mikolas on the mound here and he hasn't looked good this season. He is 5-7 with a 5.20 ERA and he has been giving up a lot of runs lately. He gave up another 5 earned runs in his last start and the team has lost 2 of their last 3 games with him starting too. The Padres are going with Pivetta in this one and he has looked great this season. He is 10-2 with a 2.81 ERA and has been the Padres ace this season. He is coming off another good start in which he only gave up 1 earned run and the team has had a lot of success with him too, winning 4 of the last 5 games he started in. He always gives the Padres a chance to win games and the team will bring their best effort for him against this slumping Cardinals team. The best way to place a bet here is on the Padres to win this game. 

Padres Cardinals Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Friday, July 25, 2025 (7:15 pm ET start time) is Padres 8 Cardinals 2.

Don't miss our champion handicappers free picks, best bets, and expert baseball picks today.  And if you enjoyed this San Diego Padres St Louis Cardinals prediction, be sure to drop by every day for our daily MLB projections and previews.

San Diego Padres: 46-44 (+4 units) on the moneyline on the road when the total is 8 to 8.5. 112-107 (+2.7 units) on the moneyline in road games. 82-54 (+8.8 units) on the moneyline vs. an NL team with a slugging percentage of .400 or worse on the season. 34-17 UNDER vs. a team with a good bullpen whose WHIP is 1.350 or better.

St Louis Cardinals: 205-222 (-31.1 units) on the moneyline in all games. 108-103 (-18.4 units) on the moneyline in home games. 37-40 (-5.5 units) on the moneyline against NL West opponents. 25-15 UNDER vs. NL teams allowing 4.0 or less runs/game on the season.

San Diego Padres:  M. King (SP) Sixty Day IL - Shoulder. J. Brito (RP) Sixty Day IL - Forearm. J. Musgrove (SP) Sixty Day IL - Elbow.

St Louis Cardinals:  T. Saggese (2B) Day To Day - Undisclosed. N. Gorman (2B) Ten Day IL - Back. L. Nootbaar (LF) Ten Day IL - Ribs. Z. Thompson (RP) Sixty Day IL - Lat.

“He’s given us a chance. The expectations are high for Dylan. But he’s giving us a chance to win games. We look up and, shoot, they scored three runs. One of them was unearned. If Dylan can continue to throw the ball, keep us in games, we’ll reward it more than we [have].” - Mike Shildt after his team’s loss against the Marlins in their game on Wednesday. 

“I was committed to throwing fastballs inside, and I think I gave up three hits in that [second] inning on fastballs inside. Sometimes when things go bad, they go bad.” - Andre Pallante after their loss against the Rockies in their game on Wednesday.

Fernando Tatis Jr. (R) RF

Luis Arraez (L) DH

Manny Machado (R) 3B

Gavin Sheets (L) LF

Xander Bogaerts (R) SS

Jackson Merrill (L) CF

Jake Cronenworth (L) 1B

Tyler Wade (L) 2B

Elias Díaz (R) C

Brendan Donovan (L) 2B

Iván Herrera (R) DH

Alec Burleson (L) LF

Willson Contreras (R) 1B

Nolan Arenado (R) 3B

Masyn Winn (R) SS

Jordan Walker (R) RF

Yohel Pozo (R) C

Victor Scott II (L) CF

Batting Average:  Bryce Johnson (.333)

Hits:  Luis Arraez (111)

Home Runs:  Manny Machado (18)

RBI:  Manny Machado (61)

Stolen Bases:  Fernando Tatis (22)

Wins:  Nick Pivetta (10)

Saves:  Robert Suarez (29)

ERA:  Bradgley Rodriguez (0.00)

Batting Average:  José Fermín (.368)

Hits:  Brendan Donovan (107)

Home Runs:  Willson Contreras (13)

RBI:  Willson Contreras (57)

Stolen Bases:  Victor Scott (25)

Wins:  Sonny Gray (9)

Saves:  Ryan Helsley (19)

ERA:  Andre Granillo (1.08)

Managers:

San Diego Padres: Mike Shildt (2nd season)

St Louis Cardinals: Oliver Marmol (4th season)