St Louis Cardinals vs Los Angeles Dodgers Prediction, Preview and Odds - 09/03/2026

Game Time: 10:10 pm ET, Thursday, September 3, 2026

Venue:  Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA

Where to Watch:  MLB TV

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds:  Cardinals +231, Dodgers -290; Over/Under:  7.5 runs

Bet365:  Moneyline odds:  Cardinals +230, Dodgers -290; Over/Under:  7.5 runs

BetMGM:  Moneyline odds:  Cardinals +230, Dodgers -300; Over/Under:  7.5 runs

St Louis Cardinals:  69-70 (3rd place, NL Central)

Los Angeles Dodgers:  82-56 (1st place, NL West)

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St Louis Cardinals:  3-7 last 10

Los Angeles Dodgers:  5-5 last 10

The Cardinals are entering this series off a loss and lost their 3-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 in their last series. They enter this game with a 69-70 record overall and have a road record of 35-32. This is the series finale of a 3-game series with the Dodgers on Thursday with the 2nd game still to be played on Wednesday. The Cardinals won the series opener on Tuesday. Their offense ranks 25th in the MLB with a .700 OPS. Rookie pitcher Brycen Mautz is their starting pitcher on Wednesday while Quinn Mathews is making his start in this game on Thursday. He is 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA this season. His team won 2 of their last 3 games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season appearance, he allowed 1 ER, 0 HR, and 1 BB with 7 SO on 5 hits through 5.2 IP against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Dodgers are entering this series off a win and won their 3-game series against the Detroit Tigers 2-1 in their last series. They enter this game with an 82-56 record overall and have a home record of 40-27. This is the 3rd game of a 3-game series with the Cardinals on Thursday with the 2nd game of this series still to be played on Wednesday. The Dodgers lost the 1st game of this series on Tuesday. Their offense ranks 2nd in the MLB with a .756 OPS. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is their starting pitcher on Wednesday while Tarik Skubal is making his start in this game on Thursday. He is 8-7 with a 2.84 ERA this season. His team won their last 2 straight games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season start, he allowed 1 earned run, 0 homers, and 0 walks with 7 strikeouts on 4 hits through 6 innings pitched against the Detroit Tigers.

The current betting odds have the Dodgers listed as a big favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Dodgers have looked great in their games this season with their 82-56 record overall which has them right at the top of the NL West. They have looked great in their own ballpark too with their 40-27 home record this season. Meanwhile, the Cardinals haven't looked great in their games this season with their 69-70 record overall which has them right in the middle of the NL West. They have been a good road team though with their 35-32 road record this year. The Cardinals took the 1st game of this series on Tuesday, but they are still 3-7 in their last 10 games and haven't looked good lately, falling out of the Wild Card race. The Dodgers haven't looked great themselves lately, now 5-5 in their last 10 games, but they are going to have the better pitching matchup in this one along with one of the best offenses in MLB. The Dodgers are going with Skubal in this one and he has looked good this season. He is 8-7 with a 2.84 ERA and he hasn't been giving up many runs all year. He did have some trouble after getting traded from the Tigers, but he has looked a lot better lately now. He is coming off another great start giving up 1 earned run which has been a common theme for him and the team has won 2 games in a row now with him starting too. The Cardinals are going with Mathews in this one and he hasn't looked great this year. He is 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA and isn't having the best rookie season. The team has had more success with him lately, winning 2 of their last 3 games with him starting and he only gave up 1 earned run in his last start too, but that hasn't been a common theme for him. Now he has to face one of the best lineups in the league here and the Dodgers are still fighting for the best record in MLB this season. Look for the Dodgers to take advantage of this pitching matchup as they start to get hot again. The best way to place a bet here is on the Dodgers to win this game and on the runline. 

Cardinals Dodgers Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Thursday, September 3, 2026 (10:10 pm ET start time) is Dodgers 6 Cardinals 1.

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St Louis Cardinals: 61-57 (+19.1 units) on the moneyline when playing against a good team (Win Pct. 54% to 62%). 74-72 (+19.6 units) on the moneyline vs. teams outscoring opp by 0.5 or more runs/game on the season. 65-65 (+9.7 units) on the moneyline vs. an NL starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.250 or better. 13-7 UNDER against NL West opponents.

Los Angeles Dodgers: 47-46 (-23.6 units) on the moneyline against NL Central opponents. 297-198 (-25 units) on the moneyline in all games. 156-90 (-18.5 units) on the moneyline in home games. 35-23 UNDER vs. an NL team with a slugging percentage .400 or worse on the season.

St Louis Cardinals:  J. Wetherholt (2B) Ten Day IL - Wrist. B. Jordan (3B) Ten Day IL - Ankle. P. Strzelecki (RP) Fifteen Day IL - Forearm. M. Winn (SS) Ten Day IL - Thumb. E. Pereira (RF) Ten Day IL - Hand. H. Dobbins (SP) Fifteen Day IL - Forearm. A. Pallante (SP) Fifteen Day IL - Elbow. M. Rajcic (SP) Sixty Day IL - Elbow.

Los Angeles Dodgers:  E. Hernandez (1B) Day To Day - Undisclosed. R. Sasaki (SP) Fifteen Day IL - Finger. A. Pages (CF) Ten Day IL - Hand. E. Diaz (RP) Fifteen Day IL - Neck. B. Treinen (RP) Sixty Day IL - Elbow. W. Klein (RP) Fifteen Day IL - Elbow. W. Smith (C) Sixty Day IL - Neck. K. Bubic (SP) Sixty Day IL - Elbow. B. Graterol (RP) Sixty Day IL - Shoulder. B. Casparius (RP) Sixty Day IL - Shoulder. J. Cousins (RP) Sixty Day IL - Elbow. G. Stone (SP) Sixty Day IL - Shoulder. B. Miller (SP) Sixty Day IL - Shoulder.

“It was just a looseness to the group that you want to continue to build off of. We talked about Philly and Chicago and a place like this, you just want to continue to breed a group that’s just fearless in how they approach those type of games. So I like the looseness of our group from pitch one.” - Oliver Marmol after his team’s win against the LA Dodgers in their game on Tuesday. 

"I thought he took good at-bats, considering he hasn't played for a long time. It's good to build that workload up, catch nine innings and then he'll be back in there on Thursday." - Dave Roberts after his team’s loss against the Cardinals in their game on Tuesday.

José Fermín (R) 2B

Iván Herrera (R) DH

Jordan Walker (R) RF

Alec Burleson (L) 1B

Joshua Báez (R) LF

Leo Bernal (S) C

Ramón Urías (R) 3B

Thomas Saggese (R) SS

Nathan Church (L) CF

Shohei Ohtani (L) DH

Freddie Freeman (L) 1B

Mookie Betts (R) SS

Max Muncy (L) 3B

Will Smith (R) C

Kyle Tucker (L) RF

Tommy Edman (S) CF

Teoscar Hernández (R) LF

Alex Freeland (S) 2B

Batting Average:  Jordan Walker (.288)

Hits:  Jordan Walker (152)

Home Runs:  Jordan Walker (28)

RBI:  Alec Burleson (100)

Stolen Bases:  Jordan Walker (18)

Wins:  Andre Pallante (12)

Saves:  Riley O'Brien (34)

ERA:  Gordon Graceffo (2.90)

Batting Average:  Freddie Freeman (.303)

Hits:  Freddie Freeman (153)

Home Runs:  Shohei Ohtani (30)

RBI:  Andy Pages (80)

Stolen Bases:  Andy Pages (12)

Wins:  Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12)

Saves:  Tanner Scott (20)

ERA:  Shohei Ohtani (1.79)

Managers:

St Louis Cardinals: Oliver Marmol (5th season)

Los Angeles Dodgers: Dave Roberts (11th season)