<p>The St. Louis Cardinals and Seattle Mariners, both playoff contenders experiencing slow starts this season, face off in the first game of a three-game inter-league series in Seattle on Friday night. The Mariners will have young pitcher George Kirby on the mound, while the Cardinals will be represented by veteran lefty Steven Matz.</p>
<p>Let's dive into our free baseball betting pick for this game.</p>
<h2>MLB Betting Odds</h2>
<p>The betting lines for Friday's game opened with Seattle at around -130 over St. Louis, accompanied by an over/under of 8.5 runs. Early betting action saw the Mariners' odds slide to -120 and the total to 8.</p>
<h2>Cardinals-Mariners Betting Preview </h2>
<p>The Cardinals recently lost two of three games at home against Arizona but managed to dodge a sweep by winning the series finale 14-5 on Wednesday. After a day off on Thursday, they now travel to Seattle.</p>
<p>Prior to the Arizona series, St. Louis had split four games with Pittsburgh and secured two of three games in Colorado. This puts the Cardinals at 1-1-1 over their last three series and 5-4 in their last nine games.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the Mariners were recently swept in a three-game home series by Milwaukee, losing the final game 5-3 on Wednesday. They, too, had Thursday off.</p>
<p>Before facing Milwaukee, Seattle had swept a three-game series against the Rockies but lost two of three games against the Cubs. The Mariners stand at 1-2 in their last three series and 4-6 in their last 10 games.</p>
<p>The last time these teams faced each other was in 2019, when the Cardinals took two of three games in Seattle.</p>
<h2>Friday's Pitching Match-Up </h2>
<p>Sophomore pitcher <a class="advblue"href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/480096&quot; title="George Kirby Pitching Game Logs">Kirby</a> has had back-to-back quality starts. Twelve days ago, he allowed just one run in six innings against Cleveland, only to have his bullpen lose the game 7-6. Last Saturday, he held the Rockies to two runs and six hits over 6 1/3 innings, resulting in a 9-2 Mariners victory.</p>
<p>Although Seattle is 1-2 with Kirby this season, they should be 2-1.</p>
<p>Last year, the Mariners had a 16-9 record with Kirby.</p>
<p>This will be Kirby's first career start against the Cardinals.</p>
<p><a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/69870&quot; title="Steve Matz Pitching Game Stats">Matz</a>, on the other hand, has yet to deliver a quality start this year, having not pitched a full six innings. Last Saturday, he limited the Pirates to two runs and three hits over 5 2/3 innings. However, his bullpen failed him, leading to a 6-3 Cardinals loss. In his two previous starts, he allowed 10 runs and 19 hits over 11 innings, resulting in two Cardinals defeats.</p>
<p>St. Louis is 0-3 with Matz this season, and that's an accurate reflection of their performance.</p>
<p>In his two career starts against Seattle, both in 2021 while with Toronto, Matz conceded five runs (four earned) and eight hits over 7 2/3 innings.</p>
<h2>Splits With the Sticks </h2>
<p>The Cardinals are batting .264 against right-handed pitching this season, with a .347 team OBP and a .414 team slugging percentage. These numbers place their lineup among the top six or seven in Baseball in this split.</p>
<p>In contrast, the Mariners have a .194/.259/.354 slash line against left-handed pitching, placing their lineup among the bottom six or so in Baseball in this split.</p>
<h2>The Bullpens </h2>
<p>The Seattle bullpen, which was one of the best in Baseball last season, currently holds a 3.42 ERA, a 1.38 WHIP, and a 1.83 K/BB ratio.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Cardinals' bullpen boasts a 3.33 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP, and a 3.36 K/BB ratio.</p>
<h2>MLB Betting Trends</h2>
<p>St. Louis has a 5-10 record against right-handed starters this season and is 1-4 as an underdog.</p>
<p>Seattle holds a 2-3 record against left-handed starters.</p>
<h2>Totals Report</h2>
<ul>
<li>The unders are 10-8 in Cardinals games this season.</li>
<li>The overs are 10-9 in Mariners games.</li>
<li>The overs are 7-6 at T-Mobile Park this season.</li>