In this article, we will formulate a St. Louis Cardinals vs Cleveland Guardians prediction for this MLB game on Saturday, September 21st at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. Let’s take a look at the prediction for game two in the series.
St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview
The St. Louis Cardinals are 77-77 this season and they have lost two games in a row. St. Louis lost game one in this series and only managed one run in the game. Prior to this series, the Cardinals won three out of four against the Pirates, lost all three against the Blue Jays, and won two out of three against the Reds. St. Louis is 3-5 in their last eight games and they are third in the NL Central.
The St. Louis pitching staff has a 4.06 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, and a .248 opponent batting average. The Cardinals’ offense has scored 627 runs with a .246 batting average and a .309 on-base percentage. Paul Goldschmidt is batting .245 with 21 home runs and 60 RBI’s for the Cardinals this season.
Cleveland Guardians Betting Preview
The Cleveland Guardians are 90-65 this year and they have won three games in a row. Cleveland won game one in this series by a score of 5-1 on Friday night. Prior to this series, the Guardians won three out of four against the Twins, split four games with the Rays, and swept the White Sox. Cleveland is 6-1 in their last seven games and they are first in the AL Central.
The Cleveland pitching staff has a 3.66 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP, and a .230 opponent batting average. The Guardians’ offense has scored 686 runs with a .238 batting average and a .309 on-base percentage. Jose Ramirez is batting .274 with 36 home runs and 109 RBI’s for the Guardians this season.
Starting Pitchers
The projected starting pitcher for St. Louis is Miles Mikolas, who is 8-11 with a 5.49 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP over 160.2 innings pitched this year. Mikolas has allowed three earned runs or more in three of his last four starts. The projected starting pitcher for Cleveland is Matthew Boyd, who is 2-1 with a 2.52 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP over 35.2 innings pitched this season. Boyd has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five straight starts but has only gone 4.1 and 2.2 innings in his last two starts.
Why the Guardians will beat the Cardinals
- The Cardinals have lost each of their last five games against American League opponents.
- The Guardians have won each of their last seven games as road favorites after playing the previous day.
- The Guardians have covered the run line in each of their last seven games as road favorites after playing the previous day.
- The Cardinals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last five home games against AL Central opponents.
- The Guardians have led after 5 innings in each of their last four road games.
- The Guardians have led after 3 innings in each of their last four road games.
Total Runs Facts
- Eight of the Cardinals’ last nine night games after playing the previous day have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Seven of the Guardians’ last eight road games against NL Central opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Cardinals’ last nine night games at Busch Stadium.
St. Louis Cardinals Player Prop Facts
- Nolan Arenado has recorded at least one Single in 10 of the Cardinals’ last 11 games against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Miles Mikolas has recorded four or more strikeouts in eight of his last nine home appearances against AL opponents.
- Alec Burleson has hit a home run in each of the Cardinals’ last two games as home underdogs against AL Central opponents.
- Lars Nootbaar has recorded a Double in each of the Cardinals’ last three night games against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
- Lars Nootbaar has recorded at least one total base in each of his last 12 Saturday night appearances.
- Alec Burleson has scored at least one run in each of the Cardinals’ last five home games against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
- Lars Nootbaar has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 12 Saturday night appearances.
- Alec Burleson has recorded at least one RBI in four of the Cardinals’ last five home games against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
Cleveland Guardians Player Prop Facts
- Andres Gimenez has hit a home run in three of the Guardians’ last four games against NL Central opponents.
- Lane Thomas has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Guardians’ last four road games.
- Lane Thomas has scored at least one run in each of his last seven appearances with his team as a road favorite against NL opponents.
- Matthew Boyd has recorded six or more strikeouts in each of his last five appearances against NL Central opponents.
- Myles Straw has recorded at least one Single in each of his last 10 appearances against NL Central opponents.
- Myles Straw has recorded at least one total base in each of his last 10 appearances against NL Central opponents.
- Myles Straw has recorded a Double in three of his last four appearances with the Guardians as favorites against NL Central opponents.
- Myles Straw has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 10 appearances against NL Central opponents.
- Matthew Boyd has recorded a win in each of his last four road appearances against NL opponents.
- Jose Ramirez ranks 5th in the league in Steals (40) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The St. Louis Cardinals rank 26th in the league for strikeouts this season (1245).
- The St. Louis Cardinals rank 25th in the league for runs scored this season (627).
- The Cleveland Guardians rank 3rd in the league for opponent batting average this season (.230).
- The Cleveland Guardians rank 3rd in the league for runs allowed this season (601).
St. Louis Cardinals vs Cleveland Guardians Prediction
Cleveland was able to get their third straight win on Friday night and they are rolling right now. The Guardians have a healthy lead in the AL Central and they are 42-37 on the road this year. St. Louis is 42-37 at home this season, but they have scored three runs or fewer in three of their last four games. I do like what I have seen from Boyd in his limited action this season for Cleveland, so I will back Cleveland to get a win against Mikolas, who is a below-average pitcher.