Cleveland Guardians vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction MLB Picks 9/21/24

The Cleveland Guardians and the St. Louis Cardinals meet Saturday in MLB action from Busch Stadium. Here’s a Cleveland Guardians vs St. Louis Cardinals prediction. This will be the second installment in a three-game series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Guardians vs Cardinals pick. We will examine:

The Cleveland Guardians’ recent form and player performance

The St. Louis Cardinals’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Cleveland Guardians

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the St. Louis Cardinals

Recent betting trends in games played between the Guardians and Cardinals

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Guardians vs Cardinals game

Cleveland Guardians Betting Preview

In their last set, the Guardians played the Minnesota Twins. Cleveland lost 4-1 Tuesday but won the other three games. On Friday versus St. Louis, Cleveland powered out the win 5-1. Ben Lively posted 5.0 innings and one earned run in the start.

In the starter slot for Saturday will be Matthew Boyd. So far Boyd is 2-1 with a 2.52 ERA in seven starts. Boyd is 46-68 with a 4.85 career ERA in 181 games (167 starts).

St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview

Over on the Cardinals’ side, they took on the Pittsburgh Pirates this week. St. Louis won the first three installments of that set before a 3-2 loss in the finale. On Friday the Cards were out-hit 8-7 in the loss. Starter Kyle Gibson lasted 6.0 innings with three earned runs.

It’ll be Miles Mikolas in the start for the Cardinals on Saturday. This year Mikolas is 8-11 with a 5.49 ERA in 30 starts. In 208 career games (180 starts) Mikolas is 62-64 with a 4.16 ERA.

Total Runs Facts

• Seven of the Cardinals’ last eight home games have gone UNDER the total runs line.
• Ten of the Guardians’ last 12 road games against National League opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Cardinals’ last eight home games.

St. Louis Cardinals Player Prop Facts

• Nolan Arenado has recorded at least one Single in eight of his last nine home appearances against AL opponents.
• Miles Mikolas has recorded four or more strikeouts in six of his last seven appearances against AL Central opponents.
• Alec Burleson has hit a home run in three of the Cardinals’ last five home games against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
• Alec Burleson has scored at least one run in each of the Cardinals’ last five games at Busch Stadium against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
• Lars Nootbaar has recorded a Double in three of the Cardinals’ last four games against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
• Lars Nootbaar has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 11 Saturday night appearances against teams that held a winning record.
• Lars Nootbaar has recorded at least one total base in each of his last 11 Saturday night appearances against teams that held a winning record.
• Alec Burleson has recorded at least one RBI in four of the Cardinals’ last five games at Busch Stadium against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.

Cleveland Guardians Player Prop Facts

• Andres Gimenez has hit a home run in each of the Guardians’ last two games against NL Central opponents.
• Lane Thomas has recorded at least one RBI in five of his last six appearances with his team as a road favorite against NL opponents.
• Matthew Boyd has recorded six or more strikeouts in six of his last seven appearances against NL Central opponents.
• Jose Ramirez has scored at least one run in each of his last six appearances with the Guardians as road favorites against NL Central opponents.
• Myles Straw has recorded a Double in three of his last four appearances with the Guardians as favorites against NL opponents.
• Myles Straw has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 10 road appearances against NL Central opponents.
• Myles Straw has recorded at least one total base in each of his last 10 road appearances against NL Central opponents.
• Myles Straw has recorded at least one Single in each of his last nine road appearances against NL Central opponents.
• Jose Ramirez ranks 8th in the league in Home Runs (36) this season.

Matchup/League Facts

• The St. Louis Cardinals rank T24th in the league for RBI’s this season (596).
• The St. Louis Cardinals rank T23rd in the league for home runs this season (156).
• The Cleveland Guardians rank 4th in the league for strikeouts against this season (1150).
• The Cleveland Guardians rank 4th in the league for ERA this season (3.66).

Cleveland Guardians vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction

I’ll lean toward the Guardians. Boyd does need a bounce-back start, though. In his last appearance, Boyd gave up two earned on five hits and three walks in 2.2 frames versus the Twins. Prior to that Boyd had just two earned in 10.1 innings, though. As for Mikolas, he’s surrendered 11 earned runs over his last 11.0 innings in three combined outings.

On Friday the Guardians got three homers in the victory. Jose Ramirez logged three hits and two RBI in a big effort, but the pitching staff deserved much of the credit. I like Cleveland to keep it up on Saturday.