The Houston Astros host the St. Louis Cardinals on April 17, 2026. First pitch from Daikin Park is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on SCHN.
The Astros are favored by -138 on the moneyline and by -1.5 on the run line. The Cardinals are +118 on the moneyline and +1.5 on the run line. The total is set at 9 runs.
Find my MLB picks and Cardinals vs Astros prediction below, as well as probable pitchers, weather report, and more.
Cardinals vs Astros Prediction
- Cardinals vs Astros Pick: Peter Lambert Over 1.5 Walks
My Cardinals vs Astros best bet is on Peter Lambert to record two or more walks tonight. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live MLB odds page.
Cardinals vs Astros Odds
| Cardinals Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -178 | 9 -100o / -122u | +118 |
| Astros Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +146 | 9 -100o / -122u | -138 |
- Cardinals vs Astros moneyline: Cardinals +118, Astros -138
- Cardinals vs Astros over/under: 9 (-100o / -122u)
- Cardinals vs Astros spread: Cardinals +1.5 (-178), Astros -1.5 (+146)
Cardinals vs Astros Probable Pitchers
| RHP Kyle Leahy (STL) | Stat | RHP Peter Lambert (HOU) |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | W-L | (Season debut) |
| 0.0 | fWAR (FanGraphs) | |
| 5.14 / 8.28 | ERA / xERA | |
| 5.02 / 5.47 | FIP / xFIP | |
| 1.71 | WHIP | |
| -1.6 | K-BB% | |
| 50.0 | GB% | |
| 89 | Stuff+ | |
| 105 | Location+ |
Cardinals vs Astros MLB Betting Preview
Peter Lambert is expected to be on the mound for the Astros tonight. He last appeared in the majors in 2024 for Colorado.
Once a prospect of some herald for the Rockies, he never really figured it out. He spent last year in Japan pitching for the Yakult Swallows, signed an NRI with the Astros this winter, opted out after not making the team out of camp, resigned to a minor league deal, and made three appearances in Triple-A Sugar Land. He is now expected to be selected to make a start tonight against the Cardinals.
It's a really ugly situation for Houston, which just does not have any pitching. The Astros threw basically a bullpen game yesterday with Ryan Weiss, Christian Roa, AJ Blubaugh and Kai-Wei Tang.
None of those guys are high-leverage relievers, partly because the Astros don't really have any. The three guys they trust — Bryan Abreu, Bryan King and Enyel De Los Santos — are all rested now.
However, those aren't the kind of pitchers the Astros are likely to turn to in the third, fourth or fifth innings if Lambert gets into some trouble.
There is a possibility they try to do a quasi-piggyback of Lambert and J.P. France, where Lambert acts like an opener and only throws two innings.
Cardinals vs Astros Pick, Betting Analysis
The pick is Over 1.5 walks for Lambert tonight.
We know he struggled to get the ball over the plate during his time in Colorado. Even last year in Japan, he walked 54 batters in 124 innings.
Lambert has three walks in 14 and 2/3 innings in the minors this year, but that is a small sample size, and you shouldn't put a lot of stock into that.
Even if he doesn't get length in this game — throwing only two innings or so — he could catch this prop because this guy's wild.
Lambert is also going to be amped up, throwing on a major league mound for the first time since 2024. Those are generally the kind of guys I target in the walks over market.
The only question is whether we get J.P. France and, if so, how much, but the volume for walks is there regardless of length.
Pick: Peter Lambert Over 1.5 Walks
