Cardinals vs. Giants line, odds, start time, spread pick, best bets for Thursday's MLB at Rickwood Field matchup from proven model

One-off events have become an important part of the MLB schedule in recent years and on Thursday, the St. Louis Cardinals will take on the San Francisco Giants at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala. It's the oldest professional baseball stadium in existence and the neutral site is meant to pay tribute to the legacy of the Negro Leagues. MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues will also be a celebration of the life of Hall of Famer Willie Mays, who died this week at 93 and played for the Birmingham Black Barons as a 17-year-old in 1948 before playing 21 years with the Giants.     

First pitch at Rickwood Field is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET on Thursday. The Cardinals are the -117 money line favorite (risk $117 to win $100) in the latest Cardinals vs. Giants odds, while San Francisco is a -102 underdog. The over/under for total runs scored is 9.

Before you make any Cardinals vs. Giants picks or MLB predictions, you need to see what the SportsLine Projection Model has to say.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every MLB game 10,000 times. It entered Week 12 of the 2024 MLB season on a 129-105 run on top-rated MLB picks dating back to last season. It has excelled on top-rated run-line picks during that span, going 20-8 (+809). Anybody following has seen HUGE returns!

The model knows the Giants have lost four of six, losing their last two series to the Cubs and Angels. On Thursday, they'll hand the ball to 26-year-old right-hander Keaton Winn, who is 3-7 with a 6.66 ERA this season. However, Winn recorded his first quality start since April in his last outing, allowing three runs and striking out six over six innings in a no decision against the Angels on June 15. 24-year-old OF Heliot Ramos has been the most productive Giant at the dish in 2024, slashing .310/.388/.545 with nine home runs and 32 RBI in 38 games.

The model also knows the Cardinals are coming off back-to-back one-run losses to the Marlins but have still won five of eight. St. Louis ranks 14th in the National League in runs scored but its pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.93. The Cardinals will hand the ball to 25-year-old righty Andre Pallante on Thursday and he'll be making his fifth start and 14th appearance of the year. Pallante has a 4.63 ERA and has had two starts where he's thrown at least five scoreless innings and two starts where he's failed to make it out of the fourth inning since entering the rotation. 

The model has simulated Cardinals vs. Giants 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you the model is leaning Under on the run total, predicting a combined 8.5 runs, and it also says one side of the money line has ALL the value!

Who wins Cardinals vs. Giants, and which side of the spread has ALL the value? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out which side of the spread you should be all over, all from the model on a 129-105 roll on top-rated MLB picks!