The St. Louis Cardinals (23-30) and Cleveland Guardians (22-28) play the 2nd of a 3-game set at Progressive Field Saturday. First pitch is at 7:15 p.m. ET (FOX). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Cardinals vs. Guardians odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: Guardians lead 1-0
The Cardinals dropped a nailbiter 4-3 Friday night that ended on what seemed to be a bad strike 3 call. 2B Nolan Gorman thought he walked in the 9th inning to put runners on 1st and 2nd for 3B Nolan Arenado when a pitch high-and-outside was called strike 3 to end the game. St. Louis had its chances to win, crawling back into the game after going down 4-0 in the 5th.
SS Amed Rosario cleared the bases with a 3-run double in the 5th, but that served as enough despite that Cleveland mustered only 7 hits. Closer RHP Emmanuel Clase walked the tightrope in the 9th, allowing a run on 2 hits over 32 pitches and will likely be unavailable if a save chance occurs Saturday. The Guardians are just 3-7 and 12-18 over the last 10 and 30 games, respectively.
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Cardinals at Guardians projected starters
RHP Jack Flaherty vs. RHP Tanner Bibee
Flaherty (3-4, 5.29 ERA) makes his 11th start. He has a 1.59 WHIP, 5.8 BB/9 and 9.5 K/9 in 51 innings.
- Last start: No-decision, 4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 5 K, against the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday
- 2 career starts vs. Guardians: 0-1, 5.00 ERA, 10 K in 9 IP
Bibee (1-1, 3.18 ERA) makes his 6th start. He has a 1.20 WHIP, 2.5 BB/9 and 7.9 K/9 in 28 1/3 innings.
- Last start: No-decision, 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 4 BB, 3 K, against the New York Mets Friday
- He’s 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 9.0 K/9 in 3 GS at home and 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 6.4 K/9 in 2 road starts.
Cardinals at Guardians odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 9 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Cardinals -105 (bet $105 to win $100) | Guardians -115 (bet $115 to win $100)
- Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Cardinals -1.5 (+155) | Guardians +1.5 (-190)
- Over/Under (O/U): 8 (O: -120 | U: +100)
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Cardinals at Guardians picks and predictions
Prediction
Cardinals 6, Guardians 5
Moneyline
We had some tough luck Friday, only nailing the Under play. Saturday’s game will be determined by whether the Cards’ bats are lively. Flaherty walks too many guys, and Cleveland doesn’t strike out often, which is the kind of team that will give him fits.
St. Louis will need to score 5 or 6 to get it done. Cleveland’s ‘pen isn’t in great shape for this one. Saturday’s game is there for the taking for St. Louis, who has won its last 6 games following a loss.
Take the CARDINALS (-105).
Run line/Against the spread
The Cards are favored on the RL here, but I don’t have enough faith in Flaherty or the Cards’ bullpen to hold up a multiple-run lead.
We’re going to PASS altogether here.
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Over/Under
It’s 71 degrees with a 9-mph breeze coming in from right-center field. The conditions are similar, but a little more favorable than Friday, and we had 7 runs. This game features two starters that walked 4 guys each in their last start, and there figures to be a lot of traffic on the basepaths. The Cards have cashed 6 Overs in their last 9 outings and Flaherty has seen Overs in his last 7 starts. The Over is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings between the teams as well.
OVER 8 (-120) is my favorite bet in this one.
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