The Cleveland Guardians (89-65) take on the St. Louis Cardinals (77-76) Friday in the opener of a 3-game set at Busch Stadium at 7:15 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s'MLB odds around the Guardians vs. Cardinals odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: First meeting; Cleveland won 2-1 last year
The Guardians took 3 of 4 from the Minnesota Twins, culminated by a 3-2 victory in 10 innings Thursday. OF Lane Thomas has been hitting the ball hard of late. He’s hitting .250 with a team-leading 4 homers and 13 RBIs over the last 15 days. Their magic number to clinch the AL Central is 3.
The Cardinals couldn’t complete the sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 3-2 defeat Thursday. In typical Cardinals fashion, 2B Brendan Donovan, hitting 5th in the order, went 4-for-4, and the 4 hitters behind him went 0-for-13. The next Cardinals loss will eliminate them from the postseason, as they’re 8 games out with 9 to go.