Guardians vs Cardinals Prediction & MLB Odds For Saturday, September 21st
There is an interleague matchup between the Guardians and Cardinals at 7:15 PM ET. This one is being played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and the Guardians are favored on the money line (-135). The Cardinals are +116 and will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak. Cleveland is 90-65 overall, while the Cardinals are 77-77.
Matthew Boyd will start for the Guardians, while the Cardinals are sending Miles Mikolas to the mound. Cleveland is currently on a three-game winning streak, and they are 1st in the AL Central. The over/under line is at 8 runs, and this one can be seen on BSGL.
Betting Odds & Lines for this Game
- Spread: Guardians -1.5 (+124) | Cardinals 1.5 (-150)
- Total: 8
- MoneyLine: Guardians -135 | Cardinals +116
All Odds are courtesy of (BetMGM | DraftKings | Fanduel | BetRivers)
Guardians vs. Cardinals Prediction: Moneyline
Cleveland picked up a 5-1 road win over the Cardinals in the most recent game of this series. The Guardians offense got off to a fast start, scoring three runs in the first and adding two more in the 2nd. As for the Cardinals, they scored their lone run in the 4th. Heading into the game, the Guardians were at -101 on the money line.
Ben Lively got the win for Cleveland, going five innings and giving up just one run. Kyle Gibson had a rough outing for the Cardinals, taking the loss after going six innings and giving up three earned runs.
Jose Ramirez and Andres Gimenez each homered for the Guardians, while Lane Thomas scored three times and drove in a run while going 1/4. Ramirez, Gimenez, and Thomas were the only three Cleveland hitters to have more than one hit.
Cleveland is on a three-game winning streak, and they lead the AL Central with a record of 90-65. The Guardians hold a 7.5-game lead over the Royals in the division. So far, they have gone 30-22 in divisional matchups this season. At home, the Guardians have been strong, going 48-28, and they have gone 42-37 on the road.
As the road favorite, the Guardians are 21-12 this year, and they are 62-33 when favored overall. Cleveland has won four straight games as the road team, and their overall series record is 28-15-6. The Guardians have gone 7-3 across their last ten games.
With an overall record of 77-77, the Cardinals are 11 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central. St. Louis lost the first game of their series vs. the Guardians and have lost two straight games overall. Against other NL Central teams, the Cardinals are 26-26 this year.
At home, the Cardinals are 42-37 this year, and they are 35-40 on the road. As the underdog, the Cardinals have gone 40-40 this year compared to 37-37 as the favorite. St. Louis’ overall series record is 25-20-5, and they are 15-10 as the home underdog this year.
Guardians vs. Cardinals Prediction: Over/Under
The Cleveland Guardians are on the road today to take on the St. Louis Cardinals. The over/under line for the game is set at 8 runs, which is right in line with their combined run average this season. The Guardians have played to the under in 67 of their 144 games this season, and their average over/under line is also 8 runs. When the line is set at 8 runs, they have gone under in 13 games, over in 20, and pushed in 6. The under has hit in their last two games.
Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor have been the Guardians’ top power threats this season, as Ramirez’s 36 homers are 7th in the league, and Naylor’s 31 long balls are 12th in the MLB. Ramirez also comes into the game with a team-high 109 RBIs, which is 4th in the league. Naylor has gone deep twice in his last six games but has just five hits in his last 23 at-bats.
Over the team’s last six games, Kyle Manzardo has gone 6/11 with two homers and four RBIs, while Jose Ramirez has also been swinging a hot bat, going 9/24. However, Lane Thomas has struggled of late, going just 3/23 in his last six games. As a team, the Guardians are averaging 4.4 runs per game and are 13th in team batting average.
Today’s over/under line of 8 runs is slightly below the Cardinals’ season average of 8.5 runs per game. St. Louis has played 83 games this season with over/under lines higher than 8 runs, which accounts for 53.9% of their games. However, when the line is set at exactly 8 runs, the under has hit at an 11-18-1 clip. The under has also hit in each of the last two games for the Cardinals.
St. Louis comes into the game with the 25th ranked offense in the MLB, averaging just 4.1 runs per game. They have been slightly better at home, averaging 4.2 runs per contest. The Cardinals are also near the bottom of the league in terms of home runs, with their team total of 156 being 21st in the league. As a team, the Cardinals are batting .246, which is 9th in the league.
Over his last five games, Brendan Donovan has been swinging a hot bat, going 8/18 with three runs scored and one homer. For the season, he is batting .275 and is 2nd on the team with 68 RBIs. Alec Burleson and Paul Goldschmidt are tied for the team lead with 21 homers, with Goldschmidt hitting just .245 and Burleson batting .269.
Guardians vs. Cardinals Prediction: Spread
The Guardians have been a solid run line bet on the road this season, going 42-37. They have covered the run line in four straight road games and have an average run margin of +0.4 away from home. Their overall run line record is 79-76, with an average run margin of +0.5 runs per game.
Cleveland is sending left-hander Matthew Boyd to the mound today vs. the Cardinals. Boyd has made seven starts this season and has a record of 2-1 with an ERA of 2.52. Looking at his overall numbers, Boyd has a WHIP of 1.06 and opponents are batting .199 this season. Boyd’s last outing came on September 16th, where he finished with a no-decision, giving up two earned runs in 2 2/3 innings of work. He has made three straight starts without giving up more than two earned runs. Boyd’s ERA for the month of September is 3.00.
When betting the run line on the Cardinals, it’s been more profitable to take them as the underdog, as they are 52-28 against the run line in those games. They are just 25-49 against the run line as the favorite. Their overall run line record is 77-77, and they have a run line record of 39-40 at home and 38-37 on the road. Their average run margin for the season is -0.4 runs per game, and they have a run line losing streak of 2 games at home. Their average run margin in winning games is +2.8 runs per game, while their average run margin in losing games is -3.5 runs per game.
Right-hander Miles Mikolas gets the start for the Cardinals today as he faces the Guardians at home. He has made 30 starts this year and has a record of 8-11 with an ERA of 5.49. Looking at his overall numbers, Mikolas has a WHIP of 1.29 and has issued just 1.34 walks per nine innings. Mikolas has turned in 14 quality starts this year and is coming off an outing in which he gave up two earned runs in five innings of work. In that outing, he gave up one homer. Mikolas has not taken a loss in his last three outings.
Guardians vs. Cardinals Pick: Cardinals ML +116
With the Cardinals being the underdog at +116, we see this as a great opportunity to take them on the money line. Our predicted final score is 5-4 in favor of the Cardinals, giving you some wiggle room if you want to take them on the run line.
Looking at the starting pitchers, Miles Mikolas has a higher chance of picking up a win compared to Matthew Boyd. Mikolas is projected to finish with four strikeouts, and Boyd is projected to finish with five.
