Saturday evening features an interleague matchup of Central teams as the St. Louis Cardinals (23-30) take on the Cleveland Guardians (22-28). The Guardians will host this game at Progressive Field, with first pitch scheduled for 7:15 pm ET.
The Guardians took the first game of this series 4-3 on Friday. In the win, Amed Rosario went one for three but drove in three runs. Shane Bieber picked up the victory after allowing just two earned runs over 6.2 innings of work.
The Guardians are slight favorites to win Saturday’s game at home. They are -118 to win, while the Cardinals’ moneyline sits at +100. The runline features Cleveland +1.5 (-192), and the over/under for total runs is 8.5.
Cardinals Try To Get Back On Track
It has been quite the inconsistent season for the Cardinals thus far. It seemed as if they had turned a corner, but they have now lost three of their last five games. Currently, they sit fourth in the NL Central, 5.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers.
While they have not been strong at home (11-15), they are also looking to improve on the road, where they are just 12-15 to this point.
Taking the ball for Oli Marmol’s club Saturday is 27-year-old righty Jack Flaherty. In 10 games, he is 3-4 with a 5.29 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, and he has 54 strikeouts in 51 innings. Flaherty took a no-decision in his last start against the Dodgers as he gave up three earned runs in 4.2 innings.
Offensively, the Cardinals rank eighth in scoring, averaging 5.06 runs per game (4.27 on the road). They are led in the power department by Nolan Gorman, who has a team-leading 13 home runs and 40 runs batted in.
Guardians Trying To Improve At Home
At 22-28, it has not been a strong season for the Guardians. They enter play 11-14 both at home and on the road, but they will have to improve their play at Progressive Field if they hope to compete.
Luckily for Cleveland, they play in the weakest division in the American League. Despite being six games under .500, they sit just four games back of the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central.
On the bump Saturday for the Guardians is 24-year-old Tanner Bibee. In five games, they are 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and they have 25 strikeouts in 28.1 innings of work. Bibee has been solid in his last two starts, having given up just three earned runs in 13.2 combined innings.
Cleveland has struggled on offense. In fact, they rank dead last in scoring, averaging just 3.45 runs per game (2.75 at home). Despite their struggles, keep an eye on both Josh Bell and Jose Ramirez, both of whom have homered against Flaherty in their careers.
Take The Cardinals To Win
St. Louis comes into this one having gone 13-6 in their last nine games, but they are just 3-6 in their last nine games against Cleveland (including previous seasons). They are also 4-1 in their last five interleague games.
As for Cleveland, they are 2-5 in their last seven games and 3-8 in their last 11 interleague games. They are, however, 10-5 in their last 15 games played on Saturdays.
Neither of these teams have inspired confidence in bettors this season. Still, despite their loss on Friday, St. Louis has been the hotter team as of late overall.
Especially if Flaherty can find his groove early in this one, he should be able to keep down a Guardians team that struggles to score runs.
Take St. Louis to win straight up at +100.
