The St. Louis Cardinals will look to extend their five-game road winning streak as they play the second game of their series with the San Diego Padres on Friday night.
San Diego’s bats match up well with St. Louis starter Michael McGreevy, so I’m taking the home team to win in my Cardinals vs. Padres predictions.
Let’s take a closer look at tonight’s matchup and break down my top MLB picks for Friday, May 8.
Who will win Cardinals vs Padres today: Padres (-146)
Michael McGreevy has put up good raw numbers to start the season for the St. Louis Cardinals, but a deeper dig tells a different story. McGreevy has a FIP of 4.18 and an xERA of 5.78, making regression seem nearly inevitable no matter what analytics you prefer.
Similarly, the San Diego Padres have some big bats that appear to be off to slow starts, with Fernando Tatis Jr. having yet to hit a homer this season. But with a hard hit percentage of 58.8%, Tatis is still ripping the ball, and McGreevy has been getting away with bad pitches more than he will going forward. San Diego should be able to generate enough offense to win at home tonight.
COVERS INTEL: McGreevy is allowing a barrel percentage of 11.4% to batters this season, which ranks in the bottom 20% of MLB pitchers.
Cardinals vs Padres Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-130)
The Padres and Cardinals combined for just three runs yesterday, and while I like San Diego’s chances of doing some damage off McGreevy, there’s no denying that this looks like a strong pitching matchup. Griffin Canning came back strong in his first start of 2026, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out seven over five innings of work on Sunday.
Both pitchers are effective enough to take advantage of this stadium, as Petco Park has the seventh-lowest park factor in the majors over the past three seasons. Neither team has been hot at the plate lately – the Cardinals have averaged 2.8 runs per game over their last five games, with the Padres averaging 3.43 over their last seven contests – and I’m expecting another low-scoring affair tonight.
- ML/RL bets: 6-12, -6.31 units
- Over/Under bets: 6-10, -4.35 units
Cardinals vs Padres odds
- Moneyline: Cardinals +131 | Padres -138
- Run line: Cardinals +1.5 (-160) | Padres -1.5 (+148)
- Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5
Cardinals vs Padres trend
The Under is 5-1 in San Diego’s last six games overall. Find more MLB betting trends for Cardinals vs. Padres.
How to watch Cardinals vs Padres and game info
| Location | Petco Park, San Diego, CA |
| Date | Friday, May 8, 2026 |
| First pitch | 9:45 p.m. ET |
| TV | Apple TV |
| Cardinals starting pitcher | Michael McGreevy (2-2, 2.52 ERA) |
| Padres starting pitcher | Griffin Canning (0-0, 1.80 ERA) |
Cardinals vs Padres latest injuries
Cardinals vs Padres weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
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